


Gotham High

by NeverNotConfused



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DC Comics
Genre: Edward is a girl, Everyone calls her Ed's tho, Everyone's a teen and in the same year, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mostly Harley, her name is Eliza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26838391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverNotConfused/pseuds/NeverNotConfused
Summary: Gotham High didn't have the best reputation out there, like the rest of Gotham but if you weren't one of the lucky ones who were born into money then it was the option that you had and it was the only option that Jonathan Crane had, with no other choice he makes his way into the school unaware of the surprise and people that he will encounter once he does
Relationships: (Past) Joker/Harleen Quinzel, Edward Nygma & Jervis Tetch, Harlivy, Jonathan Crane & Jervis Tetch, Jonathan Crane/Edward Nygma, Pamela Isley & Selina Kyle & Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, scriddler - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. One foot in front of the other

Gotham high wasn't the most pleasant building to look at, it was old, grey and looked like it would fall apart the second someone stepped foot inside it, not like the rest of Gotham. Yes, the rest of Gotham was just as colourless as the school but at least the rest of Gotham doesn't look a second away from falling apart and looks relatively new, not even the people looked happy to be entering the school, all of them wore grim frowns on their face but that was expected, no sane person would smile walking into school, let alone this one. 

That was the first thing that Jon noticed when he looked at the school, honestly, he questioned why they chose this city for him to go to, get him out of one shit situation and into another, he knows about Gotham reputation and what lies inside the city streets, if he was being honest he wasn't looking to see it first hand but that choice was pulled out of his hands and placed in the hands of the child protective service.' They couldn't have chosen any other place, could they' He thinks to himself as he makes his way towards the school, putting his head down, keeping his eyes on the ground and his dirty shoes, making his way through the crowd of students.

  
The words of his foster mother echoed in his mind _'Remember, one foot in front of the other'_ he wasn't sure why her words echoed in his mind, he didn't even know her that much.

  
No one stood out against the crowd, even though there was no uniform for them to use, to Jon all of them looked the same, he only looked up when he needed to and avoided eye contact like the plague, the fewer people that he talked to the better. There weren't as many people in the hall as there were outside and Jon could see why, the school was like an oven, heat radiated off every possible angle, he hoped that the classrooms had air conditioning or at the very least an open window. Inside the school was a bit different than outside, it still looked like it would collapse at any moment but it looked a little better, the brick walls were painted in a pale blue colour and the floor was grey with those little sparkles that they put in the floors for the younger ones, the lockers were an obnoxiously bright yellow, that hurt his eyes when he looked at it. 

  
Navigating his way through the halls, Jonathan looked out for some sighs as to where he could find the front office after 10 minutes of walking around he finally found it, the front office and if you want to know, yes it was 10X hotter in there than the rest of the school, walking up to one of the women at the desk, her hair was up in a bun and had multiple pens and pencils pointing out of it, she was chewing gum rather loudly, it was staring irritate him slightly, he cleared his throat to gain her attention, it worked, the woman looked up from her computer, smiling at him. 

  
"You must be..." She squints her eyes at the screen "Jonathan Crane, your here your time table?" She asks picking up some papers from behind her, she doesn't wair for an answer before she hands them over to him, a smile on her face "Your Form class is in 10 minutes and your class is in F6 when moving to your next class just follow the rest of them" She tells him before returning to her computer, leaving Jonathan to find his class all on his own, he was doubtful that she was willing to help him again, he wasn't sure why but he had a feeling, her smile seemed fake.

  
So he left looking at each door, looking out the room F6. About 5 minutes and three sets of stairs later he found it, room F6 There was no teacher in the room when he entered but there were students, two to be exact, a redhead with green eyeliner in way too much green to the point Jonathan was wondering how she was able to pull it off, next to her was a blond girl, her tail ends were dyed red and blue, her clothes were a miss-match of colours, the two were talking about something but soon stopped when he entered the room, the two exchanged looks before the redhead spoke up "Well see you later Harl's" she says getting up from her set and kissing the other girl on the cheek. The other girl lit up at the affection, waving her girlfriend off as she walks away, calling "Bye Red" as she left. 

  
Once the other girl had walked out the door, all of her attention went to Jonathan, a devilish smirk on her face, she was planning something and Jonathan wasn't sure what but no matter he was sure that he wasn't going to like it either way. Suddenly and without warning she shots up from her chair, knocking it over in the process, unconcerned with it the girl races towards Jonathan with an athlete like speed, in no time she was standing in front of him, inches away from his face. In surprise Jonathan takes a set back "Hiya new boy, I'm Harleen but my friends call me Harley" She holds out her hand and the smile on her face got bigger with each passing second. 

  
"Uhhh Jonathan Crane," He says slowly, taking Harleen's hand and shaking it or at least Jonathan tried to Harleen throwing his and her hands thought the air, Jonathan was sure that he was going to lose that arm.

  
Letting go of his hand Harleen begins to talk again "Jonathan...Jonathan...OH JONNY" She shouts jumping up and down "Imma call you Jonny, Jonathan's too long" she elaborates to him when she sees the confusion in his eyes. Jonathan takes a moment to processes everything that happened in the last minute, from the slight pain in his arm to the new name that has just been thrust upon him. 

  
"I don't need a new name, already have one," He tells her, thinking that it will be the end of it and he could go back to being invisible. 

  
Oh, how wrong he was. 

  
"But I give all my friends nicknames" She wines, punching his shoulder lightly "Common, ya expect everyone to call you Jonathan?" She asks him, mischief in her voice and eyes, she had a point he wasn't expecting everyone to call him Jonathan, he wasn't expecting anyone to talk to him, he was fine with being ignored by everyone but that wasn't the thing that stuck out with what she said. 

  
"Who said we were friends," He asks, taking another step back, no other students have entered the room in the time that he's been here, which was strange but Jonathan wasn't going to question it for now. The fewer people in here the better it was for Jonathan. Harleen looked at him for a moment with a black face before she breaks into a laugh, her smile returning to her face as she continues to laugh.

  
"Me silly, I'm your friend whether you like it or not, a little heads up you may as well get used to it now," She tells him, grabbing hold to the pages in his hands "Hey--" "Shhh I'm reading your classes, aww we're not in the same split class," She says handing back the pages, her shoulders slumping as she does, Jonathan doesn't say anything to her he just lets her do what she's doing, After a little bit of uncoverable silence Harley speaks up again. 

  
"So Jonny are ya meeting anyone for lunch?" She asks, moving from foot to foot, waiting for his answer. 

  
"No, I just got here" That seemed kind of obvious, the first thing she said to him was new boy, did she somehow forget that in the space of 2 minutes that they were talking, Jonathan finds that very unlikely, there was no way that anyone could have done that, Harleen didn't seem that forgetful or at least not at first glance. Jonathan can read people well or most people he can. 

  
"Well Jonny, now you do, your gonna love the rest of them," She tells him, giggling at nothing specific, maybe it was at the face that he full pulled but that wasn't it, Jonathan wasn't to pull funny faces or be very expressive in general, he was known for being quite dead faces, that was one of the reasons why he was so avoided at his old school, that and one other reason...

  
"Jonny, you alright buddy?" Harleen's voice snaps his back into reality, he hadn't realised that he'd spaced out, Harleen was talking about something but Jonathan wasn't sure what, he had spaced out, he wasn't used to people talking to him willingly or without a reason, he was used to being ignored, trying to pretend that it didn't just happen he decided to avoid it altogether and asks a new question.

  
"Them?" Jonathan asks, trying to deflect any questions that Harleen may have, Harleen didn't answer him at first, she just looked at him with her blue eyes, it was like she was trying to figure out if she should ask more questions or if she should answer Jonathans, she wanted to ask what Jonny was thinking about but she recognised the signs that told her that he didn't want to talk about it, no she recognised the signs that he was avoiding the question as to what he was thinking about, in the end, she decided to not asks. 

  
"Yeah them, the rest, you didn't think it was just me silly, did ya" She laughs, attempting to bop his noise but Jonathan moved back not allowing her to do so, she was already invading his space enough, he didn't need her doing that, he could tell that she still wanted to ask but was restraining herself from doing so, Jonathan appreciated the effort, but he didn't say anything, he didn't want to say anything. 

  
"Oh wait, you wanted names, didn't ya," Harleen asks after a moment, raising an eyebrow at him. Jonathan didn't answer her, he just waited for her to answer it on her own. He didn't want names, he didn't want to have this conversation, he just wasn't sure how to get out of it without being too rude about it, he wasn't even sure how long he'll be in Gotham for, he was hoping not that long but he wasn't counting on it. 

  
"Well, you've already seen red but you've just going to have to wait and see," Harleen tells him, jumping around slightly. Jonathan wondered if this woman could even run out of energy, she been jumping around for the better half of 3 minutes, Jonathan felt exhausted just looking at her. Still, no one else had entered the room, Jonathan would have been concerned if he actually cared at all. 

  
Not too sure where the conversation was going to go now, Jonathan decides that he's just going to sit down, he wasn't sure how long he's been talking to Harleen for, but he was sure of one thing, the class will be starting soon, he was about to sit down on the closest chair next to him, but he was quickly halted by Harleen grabbing his arm and pulling him away from it like it was on fire "I wouldn't sit there if I were you" She warns him throwing him into the chair that was next to her "That's Waylon set and let's just say he's not the nicest person in the mornings" She whispers the last part, eyeing the door as if it would burst open at any moment. 

  
"And just a tip, don't mention his face to him, he's sensitive about it" She whispers over at him before plopping down in the seat next to him, looking down at her wrist that doesn't even have a watch on it, "People will be coming in soon, so good luck" She pats him on the back and not even a second later a sea of teens comes flooding thought door, all of them yelling over each other, Jonathan couldn't tell what any of them were talking about all of their voices mashing together.

  
It was like he could hear them all talking but he couldn't tell you species of what they were talking about, Jonathan felt a bit over welded by it, he wasn't use to these sorts of crowds, he was just a simple country boy born and raised in another small town that he doesn't want to talk about. 

  
Suddenly and without any warning, they all freeze in place, no one moved an inch, turning to look out the door, from the way that thing went Jonathan could tell that this happened daily even Harleen was used to her, she wasn't frozen she was doing whatever the hell it was that she was doing. 

  
It became apparent who Waylon was immediate, he was tall, with strong arms, he was wearing a gold and black football jersey with the number 10 on it, different patches on his face was lighter colours than other, vitiligo is what it's called if Jonathan remembered correctly, he'd never seen it in person but he read about it once in a book a while back. 

  
Everyone moved out of his way, afraid that if they touched him that they would be hurt in a way but Waylon didn't pay them any mind, he just continued his way into the classroom and soon into his set. Harleen didn't waste any time greeting Waylon, he seemed used to it, it must have been a normal occurrence with Harleen, she was hanging off his shoulders as she asked and still Waylon didn't seem bothered by it, but that wasn't what caught Jonathan's attention, what caught his attention was the atmosphere in the room. 

  
It was almost the same as before everyone scared to move but there was something else now as well, was it perhaps jealousy?? Was that what he's sensing, jealousy over Harleen and her ability to talk to Waylon and to hand off his shoulders without getting pulverized in the prosses, the thought of that alone almost made Jonathan smile, almost not just there. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice that Waylon had become awake of his presents. 

  
"Who's this sack of bones," He asks giving Jonathan only a small glance before looking back at Harleen for an answer, not giving Jonathan a second glance, not that Jonathan cared he had done enough talking for one day and he wasn't planning on doing any more for the remainder. 

  
"This Jonny Boy Crane, resident new boy" She slaps Jonathan's back as she introduced him, a wind smile on her face as she looks at him, waiting for his reaction she did seem satisfied with the look in his eyes. Jonathan was not and never will be a fan of the name Jonny. 

  
"Jonathan Crane, don't call me Jonny" He sneers pushing her hand off his back, "You'll warm up to it eventually," Harleen tells him, it didn't sound reassuring more like a warning. Waylon Still didn't look Jonathan's way. Going by this reaction Jonathan wasn't sure if he was going to fit into this group as easily as Harleen makes it seemed, not that he thought it would be easy, nothing ever came easy in Jonathan's life. 

  
"Are you sure about this Quinn? He doesn't seem like the type" Waylon asks, raising one of his brown eyebrows at her, Doesn't seem like the type for what? Jonathan wonders, those words had peaked his interested. He wanted to know but the two in front of him seemed more interested in talking about him than with him. 

  
"I'm sure he is, he has the eyes for it and from what Ed's has been bragging about lately he's the perfect fit" Harleen explains, pointing to his eyes. Waylon turned to look at him, his eyes were like raging fires, like a praetor waiting for the right moment to attack, his eyes went right through him looking for something Jonathan wasn't sure the two were being too vague about whatever it was that they were talking about. 

  
"Ed's?" He asks trying to get the conversation back on track in a way that he would understand even a little as to what these two were talking about. Eyes, Ed's what did any of that mean, was Ed's one of them or just a know it all that everyone went to when they needed something. It was most likely the latter of the two. 

  
"We'll see then if they really are," Waylon tells her turning his back to the two. Everyone had returned to their seats, most of them still talking to each other, none of them aware of the conversation going on in the same room as them.

  
"See if I really am what?" Jonathan asks, his voice low, what did they want from him, what did they think he was. 

  
"Ya'll see Jonny boy, Ya'll see" Is the only thing she tells him before facing forwards as the teacher enter the classroom, the whole room falling into silence. What mess did Jonathan find himself in now?   
  
  



	2. This is not a normal conversation topic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan brushed it off thinking that she had just received a text from 'Red' and left it at that, he knew that there was something else at play here but he didn't want to get caught up in whatever it was but little did he know that he already was, he was in much deeper than he knew. Harleen leans forwards poking Waylon in the back in some sort of pattern, after a few seconds Waylon does the same but in his own pattern. Again Jonathan made note of it but didn't think much of it, a mistake that would cost him a lot of his free time in the future 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am making the Riddler girl and Irish, no I don't take criticism, have a nice day. Also yes I did put this in modern-day but that's not too important

The day couldn't have gone any slower, the teacher in this school knew nothing about anything that they were teaching or at least this one didn't and that wasn't even the worst part, he was already falling asleep and the teacher monotone voice wasn't helping one bit, he wasn't the only one either looking around the room he could see that others were on the same boat as him, all of their eyes fighting to stay open, some already down and out of the race except for Harleen, she was as energetic as ever, a wide smile on her face, practically buzzing in her seat. Jonathan was slightly amazed at the sight but at the same time not.

Waylon was fairly natural he didn't seem to be asleep but Jonathan couldn't be ti sure, it's been some time since he's seen his last move and he only had a view of his back. The room was so quiet that Jonathan could hear the clicking of the clock, at least in Georgia the teachers put some effort into what they were teaching.

Jonathan never counted him as someone who hated school and learning, he never faked a sickness to get out of school ~~Mainly because he knew he'd never get away with it~~ but this was painful for him to sit thought, without even realising it he put up his hand and asked to use the bathroom and then before he knew it he was back in the yellow locker hallways only this time they were more vacant than before but at least now Jonathan didn't feel like knocking the teacher out. Moving further down the hall towards the toilets Jonathan found that he wasn't as alone as he first thought, down the hall to the right stood a redhead leaning against one of the lockers, a dark purple blouse and dark green handkerchief skirt. Jonathan stopped in his place. Looking up from her place on the floor the girls emerald eyes perish through him. 

The girl chuckles to herself before getting off the wall and saying "Well looks like I'm right once again, like always" there was a hint of an accent there, Irish?? he didn't have time to think about it because she gets off the wall and then she was gone walking down the other end of the hall and out of Jonathan's sight, he was sure that he heard a _Naturally_ as she walked away, he wasn't sure what she was talking about could this the mysterious Ed's that Harleen was talking about, who else would talk about being right about something if to not be the person who knows everything or maybe their just an overconfident asshole, both seem plausible.

He wanted to follow her and see where she was going but he didn't want to risk skiving on his first day, that would be ridiculous at least wait until your 3rd day then you can betray the teacher's trust in you. Waiting for another minute or two Jonathan catches his breath and heads back into class, nothing had changed within the time that Jonathan was gone. Harleen was still being Harleen and Waylon was as still as ever, at least know Jonathan could see that he was still alive he was just bearly moving but as Jonathan walked closer he noticed that Harleen wasn't just being Harleen, she was looking at something on her phone, her smile somehow growing bigger by the second. 

Jonathan brushed it off thinking that she had just received a text from 'Red' and left it at that, he knew that there was something else at play here but he didn't want to get caught up in whatever it was but little did he know that he already was, he was in much deeper than he knew. Harleen leans forwards poking Waylon in the back in some sort of pattern, after a few seconds Waylon does the same but in his own pattern. Again Jonathan made note of it but didn't think much of it, a mistake that would cost him a lot of his free time in the future. 

Time past slowly and painfully for them all, the ticks of the clock seemed to get slower with every second. Harleen was getting impatient she was bouncing her legs more frequently than before and much harder than before, the sound echoed around the room, everyone could hear it including the teacher, with every time she hit her feet off the ground from around Waylon's back Jonathan could see the teacher flinch every time Harleen's foot hit the ground, any second now Jonathan could see them snapping He never did though, they were saved from a screaming match by the bell, the teacher didn't say anything as they left, they just sighed and watched them leave.

Not that Jonathan had time to look, as soon as he walked out the door Harleen was grabbing his arm and dragging him towards another side of the school. Jonathan had no clue where she was dragging him and honestly, he didn't know what class he had next and had no clue how to get there. Waylon didn't follow them and Jonathan couldn't see him over the crowd of people. 

Harleen dragged him up a set of stairs and down a left hallway, as she dragged him Jonathan had time to think about how strange this must have looked to everyone else. They were halfway down the hall when "How was ya bathroom break?" she asks, turning her head to look at him.

"Fine" he simply answers, not too sure how he's meant to answer that type of question, he wasn't use to talking with people let alone them asking how his toilet break was, is this a normal thing to ask, Jonathan's sure that it's not, maybe it was, no! people don't ask these sorts of things Jonathan's overheard other's conversation plenty of times to know that this isn't a normal conversation topic, then again what is normal in this city. 

"Are ya sure that?" she asks, her grip on his wrist not getting lighter, it didn't hurt or anything, it was just a little detail that Jonathan notes, she turns to look at him waiting for his answer, she was looking for something Jonathan, wasn't sure what it Harleen was getting at, did she know about the girl in the hallway? Was that the message that she was reading, _no didn't she get a message from red_ Jonathan thinks to himself, he thought back on it realizing he never did get confirmation on that but that was the most logical answer, there was only a slim chance that Harleen and the girl in the hallway knew each other among the other hundreds of other students who weren't lucky enough to get born into a rich family. 

"Yes?" Jonathan raises an eyebrow at her, "Is something else meant to happen, is this another thing that Gotham does differently to Georgia" he asks her, a person bumping into him as they walked by the two, but Harleen didn't seem to notice that she was too busy cracking up at Jonathan's words, he wasn't sure what she found so funny about his sentence but she found something funny, was it the accent?? Maybe, no she to had an accent that wouldn't make any sense. 

"No Ya silly, did you meet anyone?" She asks, beginning to skip instead of walking now, her grip on his wrist loosening a little but not too much so he doesn't get lost in this labyrinth of a school, he wanted to look at his time table to see where he was going but for some reason, he trusts her even if he's just met her for all he knew she leading him to his death but Harleen seemed like a trusting person and how can a 16 kill him anyway, she's barely legal aloud to drive a car, nither can he but that's not the point here, the point is that Harleen can't kill him and he trusts this person that he's just met and knows nothing about back to the person thing, should he tell Harleen about the girl in the hallway or not.

She seemed know have an idea that he saw her but if he mentions it, is it going to pull him further into a mess that he doesn't want to be apart of, there was something at play here and Jonathan knew that it was obvious from the way that Harleen and Waylon talked and the ginger in the hallway confirmed that, something was going on and Jonathan didn't want a part in it. 

"No, didn't meet anyone one new" He lies but not fully he technically didn't meet the ginger, he just saw her, she spoke a little bit, left and Jonathans sure that he heard an Irish accent, his face stayed the same as it always was, natural and emotionless, Harleen pulls a face at him like she knows or has an idea that he's not telling the truth, there was something in her eyes that made him add this on, he wasn't sure why but he did "I did see someone if that's what you meant" the look in her eyes disappears but not fully, she still knows that he's not telling her something but drops it, for now, her face returning to the smile that's always there.

"Good ya need more friends beside me and Waylon ya know," She tells him, stopping in front of a classroom door that read **_M1_** , "This school is a big scary place ya going to need friends that you can count on ok?" she advises him, at first Jonathan took it as one of Halreen's little advice moments and didn't think much of it but her next words put them into new light "Don't make friends with anyone called Jack ok?" she adds. 

"Ok," He tells her, listening to her words, he trusts her, even if he doesn't understand why she's telling him this. 

"Promise me you won't, promise me" She repeats to him, her eyes showed no sign of kidding, she was serious about this warning, whatever a Jacks did to her or someone that she knew it must have been bad, he wonders what it was, something told him that they did something personally to Harleen and it seemed like it was something that she didn't want to talk about it. 

"I promise, the second I see anyone named Jack come near me I will run to the hills" He promises her, he found that very unlikely considering that no one would in their right mindes go near him at all and he can barely run a mile in PE on a good day let alone running to the hills but then again here he was talking to someone that considered him a friend, maybe miracles can happen. 

"Good now I've got to go, see ya later Jonny" And like that she went running back down the hallway that they just came up from, pushing people out of her way as she ran with no care in the world, _If she didn't have a class here-then why-what?!?_ Jonathan wonders opening the door and walking into the classroom, the chairs were different in this room, they were red and had a small desk attached to the right side, all the chairs were arranged in a semi-circle formation.

At the front of the room sat a desk with a computer and a piano also sat. Most of the kids were already in the classroom but there were still some empty seats, no one in the class caught his eyes and no one immediately ran up to him as Harleen did, some did look up at him when he entered the room but some didn't bother, walking further into Jonathan sits down in one the vacant seats in the room. 

More people walked into the room but none of them caught his eye just like the others already in the room, that was until the last person walked in, at first he thought it was the girl from the hallway but soon realised that it was Harleen's girlfriend _Red,_ she didn't look up from her phone when walked into the room, she nodded her head at whatever it was that she was looking at, looking up from her phone she scanned the group of students that were before her.

All of them freezing at her arrival and her actions, the same way that everyone reacted with Waylon when he first entered the room, the same fear filled the air but there was something else their too, something different for the fear that Waylon received, was it perhaps attraction and desire, as she scanned the room her eyes land on Jonathan, looking down at her phone and then back at Jonathan, she starts to make her way towards him. 

_I'm safe_ He thinks to himself, there were already people next to him and the only other free chair was across the room from him but he was not, she stops before the boy on his left and with one word "Move" he gets up and runs across the room to the only other open chair in the room, taking a seat next to him, Jonathan could see the side of her head and there he noticed something else, her eyeliner was sharp enough to stab a man, hopefully, he won't be that man. _Red_ turns to him her ivy green eyes cutting into his soul.

"Pamela Isley, we met this morning," she says holding out her hand, Jonathan takes it, he notes that her grip was strong, he moves to take his hand away but Pamela doesn't let go, her ivy eyes darken as she says her next words "Don't make me regret this" she may have whispers those words as to not alert the others on what's happening but that didn't make it any less threatening to the average person but Jonathan wasn't an average person. 

"Regret what exactly? Because I'm getting sick of people pointing to something and me not knowing what it's about" Jonatan was a patient man but he was at the end of his fuse, first Harleen and Waylon, then the girl in the hallway and know Pamela, he was getting sick of this, he wants to know what's going on, he wants to know why he's being dragged into it and he wants to understand what these people want from him. 

"That's none of your business, Eliza's somehow got it into Harleen's head that you'll be the next one but I'm not fully convinced that you are, so as I previously said don't make me regret it, no don't make Harleen regret it because if you don't I'll make you," She tells him, her grip on his hand tightening. 

"It is my business the second you and your friends roped me into this" He bites back at her, ripping his hand from her grip, the tension in the room was weighing down on everyone, they were all waiting for her to snap, no one talks to Pamela Iseley like that and doesn't end up in some sort of pain and embarrassment, even the new guy wasn't safe, but that never happened, instead a toothy smile appeared on her face, it looked more frightening than her frown. 

"You'll see soon enough, don't want to spoil anything now do we darling~," She says leaning back into her chair, sticking her tongue out slightly at him, Jonathan would have said something but then the teacher came cutting him off before he even began, they didn't take note of any of the student's moods and didn't seem to care in the slightest, they had dark bags under their eyes and Jonathan wasn't sure if he was going to be learning music today, they slowly walked into the room, holding a stack of losses papers and a coffee cup.

If Jonathan was to describe them further he would have used the words _They look worse than I do_ and those were big words coming from him. He was correct in the sense that he wasn't going to be learning music that day when the teacher made it to their desk they dropped all of the paperwork onto the desk, opened a drawer on the side, took out some DVD case and put it in the computer, the movie starts playing on the interactive whiteboard, it was some old musical that Jonathan didn't care about but at least it was batter than the last class. 

As the movie hit the halfway mark, Jonathan saw a piece of paper fall onto his desk, he knew who it was from, Pamela, and he wasn't interested in finding out what was inside, he knew where it would lead him and he wanted no part in it at all, he didn't need friends and he didn't need to be a part of whatever it was that they were planing. So he left the note alone for the time being but as they say curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back, so after 10 minutes of ignoring the note Jonathan caved and opened the note, all it said inside was. 

_'_ _Meet up at the back of the school, lunch'_ it was written in red and cursive, nothing new and nothing special but it was something to note, he crumpled up the note in his hand and shoved it into his bag, the note was useless but at least now he knows where not to go when lunch hits, he didn't look at Pamela when he does this, he doesn't dare look in her direction, he keeps his eyes on the board and hopes to lose her when the bell rings.

When the bell went Jonathan shot out of the room like a light, not waiting for Pamela or anyone else. As he races down the hall he pulls out his time table and checks what he has next, English in room G1, Jonathan could find that right?

He didn't need any help, he could find the classroom all on his own, it couldn't be that hard, he vaguely remembers seeing a _G_ when he first entered the school, speed walking down the hallway he made his way towards the front of the school, avoiding everyone, so far he hasn't heard anyone yell his name yet or chase after him but he wasn't sure how long that would last, it wasn't that he thought that Harleen was annoying but he wasn't interested in getting warped up in anything that they were planning and he wasn't sure how long here was going to stay for, he was in the system, he was going to move. He took a seat in the class, put his head on the table and sighed, this isn't what he expected on his first day.

The class passed by alright for Jonathan, no one grabbed his arm, no one through a note at him, no one appeared in the hallway and said mystic stuff, no one even looked at him and the ones that did look away quickly once they met his eye. The teacher was also decent and that was worth something considering what school he was in, he thought about how long he would be here and he wondered what would happen if he did risk meeting them there, where would it lead him, he leans back in the chair thinking over the note and whether or not he should go. 


	3. I sighed away a lot of my future free time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And that's a load of crap, ya seem like the mystery type and if I'm correct at reading ya, which I normally am. Then ya are going to love it, trust me, ok?" She tells him, laughing a small bit at the end, it was impressive that she saw through Jonathan but that didn't do much to persuade him to meet them but he wasn't easily persuaded, he survived in his last school without friends he can do it again. He knows that Gotham's an awful place and that includes the people, no matter how young, Jonathan knows from first hand
> 
> "I'll--" He was going to I'll pass but he didn't, he's not sure why but instead he said, "I'll think about it, no promises" he still wasn't convinced enough to go but he did trust Harleen a little, it was more than he trusted anyone else back home if that was worth anything, it mostly wasn't he trusted Harleen, not her friends and jury still out on Pamela, she seems decent but he's not too sure after their exchange in music.

The bell rang and Jonathan walked out of the class, feeling slightly better than he was at music, he never answered the question that ran through his mind in class, it was one of those questions that he was fine with leaving unanswered, he only had a couple more classes and he free, all he hopes is that they go as easily as the last one.

His prays were not answered, he only made it halfway down the hall when someone appeared next to him, at first he didn't see it as a problem, many people were walking the same way as him so he marked it down as nothing, for now, that was until he noticed the person's hair or rather the colours, one side blue and the other red both mixed into the pink tails of blond hair, this wasn't just anyone that was walking next to him, it was none other than Harleen Quinlez... Jonathan wasn't sure where she was going or if shes noticed him yet, not wanting to give himself away yet Jonathan stays quite.

As it turns out Harleen did notice him "Hiya Jonny, how was class?" She asks a jump in her step as she turns to him, within the two classes that he hasn't seen her nothing has changed, not that he expected that, Harleen seemed like a strong-willed person, he wonders what she meant with the whole Jack thing but quested that it wasn't his place to ask questions, he's just met her and it would mean that he have to tell her where he came from and he wasn't ready to talk about it yet, maybe never he wasn't sure, "Did ya meet any Jack's?"

"Oh no, I'm Jack free," Jonathan tells her, he had almost forgotten that he asked him to her if he saw any Jack, he remembered talking about them but not that part, her smile grew wider at his answer, her cheeks must hurt from all the smiling that she does, Jonathan's face hurts from just smirking he could never imagine smiling for that long or that wide, even after asking Jonathan could tell that, that wasn't the question that she wanted to ask, not wanting to pull this out further than it had to, he asks "What else you want to know?"

"Did ya get a note of some kind?" She asks, stopping for a moment when she asked before skipping back up beside Jonathan, ignoring all the eyes that are on her, she was used to this by now, most of them were, they got used to it, it comes with the name. 

"I did indeed, your girlfriend Pamela gave it to me but didn't explain anything, would you mind explaining what is that you and your friends want with me," He asks her, keeping his voice calm and low so that no one else in the overcrowded hallway could hear them, he wasn't sure how many of them were listening to hear something worth there time, he knew that that the people in Georgia did but in his old school people were desperate for anything interesting. 

"Oh, goodie Red's delivered the note" She claps her hands together at the news "But what will happen when you arrive will remain a mystery," She tells him. 

"But what if I told you that I hated mystery?" He lies, he wants to know what is that they are planning and so far no 'answer' that he's received has made him want to go and meet the rest of Harleens friends, ~~maybe the girl from the hallway but she didn't answer anything~~ , Harleen wasn't helping either the smile on her face was a bit unnerving now with the added on mystery, he stands by the statement that she wouldn't be able to kill but he's beginning to have second doubts about her friends, he's seen Waylon and he's not so sure now. 

"And that's a load of crap, ya seem like the mystery type and if I'm correct at reading ya, which I normally am. Then ya are going to love it, trust me, ok?" She tells him, laughing a small bit at the end, it was impressive that she saw through Jonathan but that didn't do much to persuade him to meet them but he wasn't easily persuaded, he survived in his last school without friends he can do it again. He knows that Gotham's an awful place and that includes the people, no matter how young, Jonathan knows from first hand

"I'll--" He was going to _I'll pass_ but he didn't, he's not sure why but instead he said, "I'll think about it, no promises" he still wasn't convinced enough to go but he did trust Harleen a little, it was more than he trusted anyone else back home if that was worth anything, it mostly wasn't he trusted Harleen, not her friends and jury still out on Pamela, she seems decent but he's not too sure after their exchange in music. 

"Good, ya won't regret it, Jonny ya won't! Trust me if ya come it will be the best decision of ya life" Harleen shouts at him in amusement, around them people stopped and looked at them with strange looks, most directed at Jonathan than Harleen, they must have been used to her shenanigans by now. Harleen has been here for much longer than Jonathan, so people would be used to her after all this time at the school but just as quickly as they looked at him with the strange looks they looked away, whether it be because of Harleen or because Jonathan caught them, he will never know. 

Jonathan opened his mouth to tell Harleen that he only said he'll think about it but before he could someone slammed into him, sending him forwards a couple of steps, the person who slammed into him didn't waste any time getting back up and racing down the hallway, he only caught a brief glimpse of his appearance, brow skin that had some reddish marks on it, a little bit like Waylon just more burn mark like, brown hair in a buzz cut, that was all he got before he disagreed down the hall. Just as Jonathan was getting back on his feet after almost getting flattened, another person comes flying by the only difference this time is that they stop before they crash into him, instead of coming to rest beside, they placed their hand on Jonathan shoulder which was considerably worse than being flattened in his opinion, the boy had brown hair and his skin was a lot lighter than the other boy and he had light brown hair but the thing that caught Jonathan's eye was the boy's eyes, they were red it was unusually but so was everything else in Gotham red eyes probably wouldn't stand out amongst everything else in the city but it was still something to note. With their hand on Jonathan's shoulder, the boy leans over and takes deep breaths of air, he's clearly been running for some time but before Harleen or Jonathan could say anything he was up again. 

"GARFIELD NO!!" He screams sprinting off after the boy who previously slammed into him but before he raced off Jonathan heard him mumble under his breath _Who the Hell gave him a lighter?!?!?!,_ looking back at Harleen, Jonathan wasn't sure what it was that he was looking for on her face, Wonder??? Suprise??? But when he looked up he didn't see any of it, it seemed that this was another normal thing that happened in this school and just another thing that Jonathan will have to get used to until he leaves for another foster home. 

"Huh I wonder who gave Gar a lighter, anyway don't mind that we had a class to get ta," Harleen tells him dismissing everything that had just happened in the past minute and a half, that was enough to back Jonathan theory of this being a common occurrence in this school, he was begging to wonder how much happened at this school that the teacher let slide it seemed to be a lot more than what his old teachers let his getaway with that was for sure. Harleen gripped his wrist again pulling him toward their ext class Jonathan wanted to fight her on it but knowing that he's all stick and bones and that Harleen could throw him if she feels like it, damn her and her normal human strength, he knows that he previously said that Harleen wouldn't kill him she could but she won't that's what he meant.

Harleen pushed through the crowds of people with Jonathan behind her, not that she needed to considering most moved out of her as she approached them. Jonathan could tell you what happened in this class and the next but nothing happened, they were decent enough and no one threatened or invited him somewhere. Nothing happened, he was still in the same class as Harleen when lunch arrived meaning that he couldn't slip away from her before she intertwined their arms and dragged him towards the back of the school were he'll be meeting her friends. Jonathan would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous, he wasn't afraid but nervous, he'd only been here for half a day and he already knows the power that Harleen and the other's hold. The way they moved to avoid Harleen, the way the froze at Waylon's entrance into the classroom, them freezing at Pamela's anger in music, they held something over these people and if they don't like Jonathan they could make his life hell, well more hellish than it already was. 

Harleen was rambling about something to him but Jonathan wasn't paying attention, he was going through every possible outcome of this situation and most of them ended horribly, some involved him getting thrown out a window, some involved a broken and one included his back getting broken by some buff guy. But there was one decent outcome where they were alright with him, they didn't talk with him just tolerated him, within his thoughts, the girl from the hallway appeared and didn't leave. She dragged him down a couple of hallways and Jonathan was remembering all of them just in case he had to make an escape. 

The air outside was cold but that was expected in the September weather however that wasn't the thing that Jonathan noticed when he walked out and around to the back of the school, somehow it seemed to be a little bit better, just the bit cleaner and slightly less disgusting than the rest. That didn't make sense in Jonathan's head, theoretically here should have been the worse part of the school concerning no one should be walking this way. Harleen even made him jump a chain fence to get here, telling him _**Don't Ya worry Jonny, once you become one of us you won't be needing to do that anymore** _and left it at that, with the fence blocking his exist Harleen had let go of his wrist and was skipping towards something that he couldn't see, he followed her slowly and hesitantly, if Harleen noticed then she didn't say anything. 

There was a small dip in the ground that Harleen was skipping towards, there was something else hidden in the dirt and their noise emanating from the door, it was indecisive and unreadable but Harleen seemed to understand what it was, she jumps before the hatch and swings it open with no problem, light emanating from the now open door, the noise ceased once the door opened, leaving silence for Harleen to fill as she screamed "WE'RE HERE" before hopping down the some of the steps, after a second of no movement from Jonathan she hops back up and beckons him down enthusiastic, silently telling him _Come on_. He drags his feet towards the open hatch and watches as Harleen hops down the stairs, skipping some as she went down, under the school looked much cleaner than the actual school, the first step creaked under his weight when he stepped on it, the noise still hadn't resumed yet, making this more unsettling than it had to be, normally Jonathan would have loved this, he would have wanted to study it ~~He still did~~ but not now. 

He made his way down the stairs quickly not wanting to draw his this out more than he had to. _The faster I do this, the faster I can leave_ was the mentality that he walked down the stairs, fold-up chairs and tables came into views, most of them were occupied, Jonathan counted almost 10 or more people sitting down there, all of them facing his direction, all of their eyes burrowing into him, ripping into him, looking over every detail, every inch of him, every breath and blink. Out of the ten or so faces he recognised four of them. Harleen, Waylon, Pamela and the girl from the hallway. None of them said any, all of them staring at each other, a competition that didn't end until Harleen turned on the spot and addressed them all, her arms outstretched between the two groups "Here he is, da man of the hour!!" She shouts at them, excitement and enthusiastic filled her voice, that seemed to break the silent curse upon them. 

"Told you he was a stick," Waylon tells them, leaning back in his chair, he was sitting next to a boy in the same jersey the only difference being the numbers instead of a ten there was a four, the guy was the same build as Waylon maybe a little shorter, bald and with slightly tan skin and has the same muscle that Waylon had, he laughed slightly at Waylon's words, sifting slightly in his seat, just like Waylon he could most likely snap Jonathan like a twig.

"Nevermore true my friend" He chuckles, his words having a Spanish accent to them, that surprised Jonathan slightly, he wasn't expecting that in Gotham but then again he wasn't sure what it was that he was expecting from Gotham, maybe getting jumped or stabbed, that happened in Gothan quite a bit, its one of the first things that he heard about before he came here. Gotham was a ruthless place and the people there were worse, everyone was out for themselves and if the situation needed it they throw you under the bus with ease, no guilt in their mind what so ever, how much of that Jonathan believed was a mystery, "Are you sure about him Eliza?" He turns to look at someone across the table. 

"Oh, are you doubting me, when have I ever been wrong" The person answers, the girl from the hallway, she leaning on her elbows, her head in her hands, a smile on her lips that sent a message that this girl had nothing good in mind at all, he could fully see her face now, her eyes were not the emerald green that Jonathan had first believed them to be instead they were a bloodstone green and the red freckles that dotted her face and nose brought them out, even more, her hair wasn't as dark as Pamela's but still has a dark tone to it, it was braided into a loose plait on her right side of her face, slightly covering her eye her face was sharp but her features were soft, it was almost cute in a way. 

_Cute?!?! Where did that come from??_ Jonathan thinks to himself before he could stop. 

"November 19th, two years ago, 10:45, -2 degrees," Another boy interjects, he wasn't as tall as the others and didn't look as strong, he was much more stout as well, compared to the others he looked like a child and could have been mistaken as one, his face was baby-like and squidgy, he would have been if it wasn't for his nose, ~~not that Crane could speak~~. He was dressed the best out of everyone, in some designer label that Jonathan could and didn't want to remember. 

"That was one time and that wasn't even my fault.....completely" Eliza protests, taking her head out of her hands to look at the boy, her pupils dilating at the boy's words, it was small not a thing that many would notice but it was something that Jonathan did, _She's prideful, maybe even too prideful_ He suspects to himself, from this to her words from the hallway, it was a strong theory "I wasn't the one who set off the alarm Oswald."

"You were the one that said no one would be there" Oswald points towards Eliza, no venom between any of the twos words, no hard feeling about what had happened that night.

"Even then you always look out for alarms, your lucky Selina was there to help you" She points her finger over towards a girl on the far left on a completely different table, one of her legs crossed over the other, her dark hair in a pixie cut, her green eyes calm, she's seen this play out before many times all of them ending the same as the last, she doesn't move from her chair but she did look up from a page that she was reading to look at the two. 

"Eliza, Oswald are you two seriously doing this again, that happened months ago let bygones be bygones and move on, we got what we went there for" Selina waves her hand dismissing the two and herself from this conversation, going back to the page that she was reading before she was dragged into the two's little mess "Also it's red to ignore a guest, especially one as rare as this" She adds, all of the attention was suddenly back into Jonathan once more, not sure what it was that they wanted, he waved slightly at them, it coming across more awkward than he intended.

They were waiting for something, waiting for Jonathan to do something, to say something "What?!" He demands them all, he was sick and tired of all of this, he wasn't normally like this but things weren't normal right now and he wasn't feeling like himself at the moment. The group froze but not in the way that you would expect, you would think that a room full of people would be hurt or offended at his demand but no they smirked at him!! Smirked, why are they smirking at him, should he leave, yes that sounds like a good idea, at that very moment the hatch struck closed.

Two figures stop with their backs to the door, he could see their faces that were obscured by the shadows that cast over them but he recognised their clothes from before, the boy with the lighter and the boy that was chasing after them, both now locking him in and lighter less, this again surprised no one. _This was all planed form start to finish_ Jonathan realised too late, there was no accident to all of this, he was meant to meet one of them, was him meeting Harleen part of this plan or was this by chance. Oswald Cobbepot moved from hi chair making his way towards the two boys, "Looks like you got my message boys, right on time."

"Like we missed this for the world, Boss must be big if you calling in Drury," The one that you to have the lighter that Jonathan believes is called Garfield says jumping down all the steps at the same time, he must have done this hundred of times as he didn't flinch at the pain in his feet or legs at all, slowly Drury came down the steps not pulling the same stunt as his friend, his arms crossed and looking down at Garfield. 

"Thanks for the vote of babe, fills me with confidence let me tell you," He says with no emotion behind his tone, "That's it no kisses for a week!" He says with more force behind it, walking away from his boyfriend with speed before reaching one of the tables in the back and staying there with his arms crossed, Garfield not far behind him shouting _No babe wait I didn't meet it, come back!!._ The group watched this soap opera go o before turning their attention back to Jonathan in no time. 

"Well let's see what you're made of, let's hope that Eliza has chosen well," Oswald says as he looks at him, a gleam in his eyes that said, _This boy could be worth a profit,_ Jonathan wasn't sure what they were going to do to him, he's seen bullies before and this wasn't the way that it normally went unless Georgia did it differently and this is how people bullied in Gotham, brought them down to the basement and made fun of you, sees much nicer than in Georgia, maybe Gotham won't be so bad. Oswald wasn't the one to walk up to him but Eliza, she was holding something in her hands, bracing himself for insults and beatings.

Instead, she passed him the note and flashed him a bright smile, before walking away from him and back to her seat, smiling at him one more time. Harleen was the one to break the silence with her declaration of lunch "Sooo lunch then?" She asks them all clapping her hands together to gain all their attentions, all of them agreeing and all of them getting up and making their way towards the hatch. Jonathan didn't move until someone grabbed his wrist and pulled him forwards, it was Eliza.

"Welcome to the best lunch in your life Jonny boy," She tells him, her eyes closed and her mouth in a smile that made Jonathan's heart feel something. _Maybe I'm dying or already dead_ He thinks to himself, yes that was the most logical option, no one around them seemed to notice or care about Eliza's words, something in Jonathan made him interested to see where this leads him but at the same time, he didn't want to give up most of his free time for this.

Guess he'll just have to see where this takes him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, again  
> With the whole Drury eyes, I looked it up a couple of times and the answer that I got was red, I know that it can't always be reliable but that's what I'm going with, if you do know what his eye colour is if it is not red could you tell me and I'll fix it  
> If you like this story could you like a comment? I want to know if there anything that you think I could do to help the story or my writing feel free to say  
> Also, I'm writing another book but it does have more to do with Riddler and Scarecrow than it does the other, not sure when I'm going to post it tho


	4. Are we aloud to do this. I'm pretty sure that we can't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Jonathan, you deaf or sommthin? Common!" Someone shouts at him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Out of his thoughts, he realised that they were done setting up the two tables and were waiting for him...Remember what they want, he reminds himself one last time before he takes the only other seat available, between Waylon and Harleen, this was going to be interesting. The tables were set up like a meeting. Oswald was the head of the table, multiple pages in front of him. Jonathan was too far away to read what it was but it looked like the type of page that Selina was reading 

When Harleen suggested lunch, Jonathan assumed that she meant in the cantine. Mistake number one, which causes him quite the surprises them when he noticed that they were leading him off the schools ground and onto the Gothams streets, they didn't even try to hide to it, walking out in the open, they did avoid the windows of the classrooms as they left but that was it, no one noticed them or tried to stop them as they left. Jonathan's heart was beating out of his chest which he chalked up to being nerves of being caught by security and not from Eliza's hand being so close to his. 

She must have noticed his pulse because she leaned in closer to him ~~which didn't help~~ and whispered to him "Don't worry no one cares that we're leaving, they never do" up closer Jonathan noticed the little flecks of blue in her eyes that were overpowered by the green of her, he also noticed that she smell like the air after it rains and ink, it was a strange thing that he picked up on but he marked that down to him being observant and not creepy, is it still creepy if you don't say anything, yeah no it is.

Once they cross the road Eliza lets go of Jonathan's wrist, letting him walk on his own, kinda he was still following the group to their destination, one that no one has informed Jonathan about, they were walking towards something which Jonathan could only assume is a food place considering that it's lunch. Even though it was twenty to one, people were still out on the street, lost of them; it was almost overwhelming for Jonathan, he was sure that he would fall if it weren't for everyone around him, no one on the street gave them a second look, they have more important and weird things to look at then a group of secondary school kids walking down the street during school time. 

The walk-in total took around 5 minutes, it came to an end with Eliza swing that door open, like she owned the place, luckily she didn't grab his arm again, he hated it when people touched him, Harleen grabbing his wrist and dragging his around was enough, Eliza was overdoing it, she didn't wait for the others to say or walk to the door, no one said anything as she strutted in and Jonathan decided that he wouldn't say anything either as he followed him inside, the smell of food hit him immediately, his mouth watered at the smell, it was nicer than any school food that was for sure, couldn't beat a Georgia roast but it was a good second. 

At the ring of the bell, the guy at the counter looked up at them, his face was wrinkled and eyes old, they were a warm brown, welcoming and kind, the type of eyes that Jonathan hadn't had much experience with. This might have been the only nice person that he's seen in Gotham, these people around him, he wasn't sure what to think about them, they were planing something Jonathan could tell, their eyes gave it away, they were filled with mischief and planing, not all of their eyes just most. 

"Welcome back, your usuals?" The man asks the groups as they all walk into the place, there were very people in the place beside them, maybe three or four all of them in a group just like them, none of them looked up at them when they entered the place, made sense to Jonathan as the four we're adults and most likely had something better to do with their time than worry about who walked into a restaurant, as the old man from the counter moved from his place he started to speak again "How were your day--" he trails off "Who's this?"

"This is Jonny boy Crane" Harleen jumps up from behind him, swinging her arm around his shoulder "The new boy that Ed's mentioned the last week, remember?" She tilts her head to the side, the man thinks about it for a second before his face lights up with an answer.

"Oh yeah, Jonathan Crane. I remember now, that was today? The way you young people think and act" He says before disappearing behind the counter, his voice echoing off the walls of the kitchen, the only sign that he was still there was the sounds of pots and boxes moving from that area. There were no tables big enough for all of them but that didn't matter to them. Garfield and Drury had run off to a table on their own, Garfield still apologising for his comment earlier, seems Drury still wasn't forgiving him, not just yet.

The others pushed together two tables and stealing 9 chairs for themselves and Jonathan, speaking of Jonathan he just watched as they moved the tables and chairs in place, all of them moving in sync with one another, they had done this before multiple times and it showed they were so in tune with each other, so rhythm with one another, almost like a dance, Jonathan didn't want to admit it out loud but he was a little impressed and maybe, only a tiny weeny bit it jealous of their co-operation with one another, he felt out of place amongst them.

He felt distant, something that he was used to but this was different, he was so close to this but yet so far, he wasn't sure what to do, what to say? This was all foreign to him, these people wanted something from him that all, he reminds himself. That was the only reason why they were talking to him, they know something about him and they want something from him, they don't want to be your friend. 

"Jonathan, you deaf or sommthin? Common!" Someone shouts at him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Out of his thoughts, he realised that they were done setting up the two tables and were waiting for him...Remember what they want, he reminds himself one last time before he takes the only other seat available, between Waylon and Harleen, this was going to be interesting. The tables were set up like a meeting. Oswald was the head of the table, multiple pages in front of him. Jonathan was too far away to read what it was but it looked like the type of page that Selina was reading. 

_This is normal for lunch?_ He thinks as he watches as Eliza opens her bag and pulls out a brick of a binder, all of it coloured coded, covered in green question marks and section off, it shook the table and made a bang so loud that it could still be heard seconds later, some of them jumped at the noise, the most exaggerated was Harleen who fell off her chair and the three unsuspecting people that weren't expecting that to happen, "Gosh Darn, I feel like it gets bigger ever time I see it" She says that as she pulls herself back onto her chair with some help from Pamela. 

"Who knows its a riddle that you'll just have to solve," Eliza tells her, pushing the binder towards Oswald, she didn't have to do that since she was in the closest chair to him but go off Jonathan guesses. He flicked through the pages for a couple of seconds before slamming it shut and shoving it back towards Eliza in defeat, "Did you re-organise it again Eliza? After last time" He asks. 

Eliza looks down at the binder and opens the first page before mouthing something to herself, no words came out of her mouth but Jonathan could make out a bit of the sentence it went along the lines of _I thought I put it back together just like it was before_ , her eyes filled with a little bit of concern or fear, looking up at Oswald and saying "I got bored, sue me" Her eyes still filled with concern and fear.

"Fine, where's the page that we need?" He asks, not that it mattered as she was already doing that before he asks her, the page he was looking for was just a page away, the page was just as full as the rest of the binder, things were highlighted like, small notes on the side of the page and sticky notes, Jonathan couldn't read what they said but he could see the mountains of writing that covered the sides of the pages. Speaking of the page there was a news article of something on it, a building or at least Jonathan thinks so, it was hard to tell from his angle. 

"Do we really have to go over this here? In the middle PUBILC," Pamela stresses, leaning back on her chair, that was moved closer towards Harleen's and one arm around her, Oswald stopped for a moment, leaning back in the chair and looking over at the other occupants of the restaurant?? Fast food place?? Jonathan wasn't sure. The people on the other side of the floor, they weren't paying them any mind, all of them on their computers typing something out, from time to time they would look over at Drury and Garfield, who were currently shoving their food in each other's faces but other than they didn't seem too interested in them. 

"They aren't listening to us nor do they care Pamela and it's not like we're doing anything _illegal,_ " Oswald tells her, scanning over the page until he found the bit that he was looking for, he smacked the line with his finger when he found it, pulling a sticky note out of his pocket checking it a couple of times before addressing the group one more time, "Right so tonight at 7 we'll be meeting up at the old wear house that sits outside the school a street over, bring what you need and don't forget anything" He looks over at Eliza "Eliza, did you bring what Jonathan needs?"

"Of course I did," She says pulling a plastic bag out of her bag, looking at the bag Jonathan wonder how she fits so much in there, _Did she mug Mary Poppins on the way here?!!?!?!_ He questions as she slides the bag towards him, it hitting his foot when it was slid towards him on the floor as to not bring any suspicion towards them, "Everything that you'll need is in there. Harley, Waylon, you'll be able to brief him on all of this for me right" She asks promoting her elbows on the table and leaning her head on her hand, her eyes closed ~~Jonathan didn't know if that made it better or not.~~

"And why can't you do it yourself?" Waylon asks her, Harleen agreeing with him as well "You're the one that chose him, do it yourself" He adds. 

"Can't I have advanced calculus, plus you're already in his class. I'm not, it the most obvious answer" Jonathan was sure that if her eyes were open, she'd been rolling them at them all, she radiated energy that said _**I'm better than you, look**_ , Jonathan had seen people like this before, many of them Jonathan hated and many of them hated Jonathan back but something about her was different, something about all of them was different, he knew many people like them and hated most of them but there was something different this time. Jonathan wasn't sure what. That annoyed him.

No one argued with her, whether it being because they didn't want to deal with her or because all that needed to be said was said, either was Jonathan was left with more questions than answers. There could have been more said but just as he as about to act, the food came. The conversation continued but not on what Jonathan was hoping for, they talked about school, homework, video games and some other things, one of the things that Jonathan did notice was that they did avoid one topic. 

Their home lives. 

It was small, but it was something that he picked up on as the rest talked, some ~~Harleen~~ made attempts to include him in the conversation, and he did say things from time to time but other than those few words he didn't say much, it was still so overwhelming to him...all of this, being near so many people but only that but also being near so many people that didn't comment on his appearance, that didn't call him scarecrow, they might have insulted him slightly but he could let that slid for now. The food was good, but to Jonathan any food was good, this wasn't the first time Jonathan's had pizza but it was the best.

He remembers seeing this place for a few seconds on the drive into the city, at the time Jonathan didn't care much for it, still didn't care much for now. The only difference was that now that he inside the place with people, it made sense Jonathan was sure that this one of the places that had student discounts for food, he was pretty sure that he'd seen a sign on the window that told him so. Things wrapped up when the food was gone, they all moved quickly as they put everything back into the correct place and moved the dishes back into the kitchen. 

They said their goodbyes to the owner of the place, dragged Drury and Garfield away from their table and back towards the school; they walk more talkative than before, Harleen and Pamela stayed near him, but Eliza moves away to talk to Oswald and some other tall teen. Jonathan got a good look at his back but not his face, though Jonathan was curious. From the collar of his shirt, Jonathan could see discolour meant on the left side of his neck, greyer than the rest of his neck. Jonathan wondered if the rest of his face was like that, he wondered if it hereditary or if it was from an accident from the past. 

He also noticed that the was holding posters and flyers under his arm, he couldn't see what they said as they were rolled inside out, the blank side of the pages facing them all. Jonathan didn't listen to their conversation to find out what they were, he didn't care that much that and Harleen was pulling him into another conversation with her and Pamela. They arrived at the school faster than they left, no one noticing that they left, on one caring until one of them looked in their direction. They split up at the school gates, some of them going back to the basement and some going into their separate classes.

Harleen lead him to his next class, next class and the class after that. Explaining what he needed to do every chance she got, Waylon helped as well explaining things that Harleen forgot, sometimes adding to things that she's already explained, it was a little overwhelming but nothing that Jonathan couldn't handle. The mask and the gloves were simple, just wear them when needed. The crowbar was a little worrying but their response to that was _It's Gotham you'll need something to protect yourself with, just don't let anyone see it._

There was also a map but that one was self-explanatory, there were also someplace marked on said map that Harleen explained to be fun places that he could check out in his free time, he wasn't planning on so but the thought was nice Jonathan guesses. No one seemed to notice them as they talked about this but it was more concerning was that no one noticed the crowbar that sat in the bag just poking out of the top, that wasn't a fun thing to carry around that day. It didn't help that Harleen kept asking him about it every time the bag moved. 

The day went by and soon enough he was in this last class, listening to the teacher talk as he and the others took down notes, nothing happened, well nothing noteworthy at least, this was something that Jonathan was used to, he'd never thought he'd miss it, it was strange if he was being honest. He planned to go home once school was over but Harleen quickly ripped them to shreds when she reminded him that their meeting at 7. 

He still went home, bags in tow, Olivia asked him what's with the new bag but didn't push the questions, she still wasn't sure how to approach him with questions. He'd only been living in her for a week and a half, things were still strange for the two. "How was your day Jonathan, did make any friends?" she asks him, not waiting to ask about the bag anymore, Jonathan thought she was nice he just didn't know what to make of her. 

"It was interesting," He tells her, readjusting the second on his shoulder, he wasn't going to add more but the look on Olivia face made him say more "I met some people, they asked if I wanted to meet up with them later at 7. Is that ok with you?" He asks her, moving from foot to foot, waiting for her answer his question. This was the first time that he's asked to go somewhere, he normally didn't go anywhere, he just stayed in his room most of the time. 

Olivia didn't say anything for a moment, thinking over his question for a minute "Yeah, go ahead I'm happy that your meeting people in school" She tells him, a small smile on her face. A little hope in her eyes. He could find a home in this place yet, Gotham was an awful place Oliva knew this better than the two, she's seen what can happen in this city first hand but Gotham can be a home to those that need it, the only problem was is that she wasn't sure that this is the home that Jonathan needs, too many people here will act like that woman. 

"Do you need me to drop you off or are you fine to walk on your own?" She asks him, picking up the car keys that sat on the radiator cover that stood with them in the hallway of the tiny apartment, above the cover hung multiple pictures of other kids, they were some of the other foster kids that Olivia had taken care of over the years. Jonathan wasn't sure where they are now all he knows is that they don't live with Olivia anymore, the might still be Gotham but Jonathan doesn't care, there were some more pictures in the living room but those were of Olivia's younger days. 

"No, it's fine, we're meeting up near the school, I'll be able to walk there myself. I don't want to hold you back from work" He answers her, moving past her and towards the spare bedroom that is now Jonathan's. The room wasn't much to look at plain walls, one picture of a lake, a clock, a one-person bed, a nightstand with some small things on it but the most important thing that Jonathan was the bookcase the sat on one of the walls of the room, not ever shelf was full but there were plenty of books. A few of the books he brought with him, one that he managed to save but the rest were already there when he arrived at Olivia's house. 

Books were the only luxury in his life, one of the only things that brought him joy, he could go on for hours about all the different books that he's read and all the meaning behind them but he knows that no one would want to listen and discuss them with him. He places the bag that he was given under his bed and looked at the clock on the wall, it read _3:55_ , he had four hours and five minutes left until seven meaning he had about three hours until he had to leave, sitting on his bed with his bag beside him, he'd gotten no homework today which to him felt like a coincidence but it was only the first month into the year so there was that. 

Making sure that he kept an eye on the time Jonathan reaches over to the nightstand, pulling a hardcover book out of the draw and opening it at the last page that he was on. Time moved faster for him when he read, all he was remember to check the time and he was golden. It worked, he got through a good portion of the book before he had to leave. Closing the book over and looking over at the clock on the wall, it now read 6:30 giving him half an hour to get to the building. 

Picking up the bag that he was given and pulled out the map, making sure that he was going to the right place and not some other abandoned warehouse near the school. Walking out the door he big goodbye to Oliva, grabbing a jacket on his way out.

The Gotham air was cold and damp, strange Jonathan was sure that it hadn't rain today but that didn't matter at the moment. As he walked he put on the jacket, it hung off his slender frame, making him look more like a small scared child than a tired 16-year-old carrying a crowbar in his bag. A part of him felt a bit safer carrying the weapon as he walked down the streets of Gotham, having something to defend himself with if someone does try something with him. 

He wasn't the only one on the street, he had to weave him way through the crowd of people the same way he did at school. Even with so many people around Jonathan didn't feel safe, pushing this thought down he continues his way towards the building, bumping into some people on his way. Nothing happened to him on the way over to the warehouse, thankfully. 

Turning the last corner hat he needs to take, he sees Harleen and Pamela, along with the others. All of them waiting outside the abandoned warehouse, a stack of bags similar to Jonathan's but the contents not so much, no one noticed him until he was a foot away from them. "JONNY YA HERE!!" Harleen exclaims, throwing her fits in the air when she saw him approaching them. The rest of them truing to him at her exclaim. Jonathan was sure that the whole street had heard her exclaim. 

"Finally," Oswald says "Now all we're waiting on this--" He didn't finish his sentence, he trailed off looking behind Jonathan. Within seconds two figures rushed by him, throwing their bags over their shoulders and onto the pile of others, one of them missing completely and crashing into the group next, metal clacking noise coming from it when it hit the ground. "Don't throw that you idiots, do you how important those are?!" Oswald shouts at the two, both of the jumping at his shout.

"Sorry boss but he have some other things to do tonight, this was the first one tonight. Hope you got everything you need because we gotta go" Garfield tells him, jogging on the spot, Drury standing behind him holding other bags in his hands. "Welp sees ya," He says before running off with Drury into the night to deliver other bags to people.

"Welp, we got what we need," Harleen says clapping her hands together as she looks at the bags and picking one up, pulling out a mallet and swinging it around a bit before hugging it "Oh Beatrice how I've missed you" she whispered to the mallet--Sorry Beatrice. No one disturbed the two as they talked, they just picked up their own things and left them to it, most of them also being weapons only now did Jonathan realised that this might be darker than he originally thought. The scary part? 

He was on board with it. 

Eliza stepped forward a taser in hand, it sparking slightly when she pressed the button on the side, a smile on her face "Well Jonathan? Are you ready to prove yourself" She asks coming to a stop in front of him, placing the taser under his chin, her finger hovering over the button, ready to press at any moments notice? Her bloodstone eyes boring into his frame, that small smug smile growing by the second that he didn't react, that seemed to be the reaction that she was looking as after some time she turned away and Announces "Well then. Let the night begin?" 


	5. Wow, we all suck as people and most definitely need help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did-Did NONE OF YOU TELL HIM?!?!?" Eliza screeched at the two, the smirk falling off her face, her voice cracking at one point. Everyone jumps at the sudden noise that emanated for Eliza's throat, the noise echoing down the street for a couple of seconds before someone else yelled back Hey I'm trying to sleep here and then the slamming of a window came back to them, as the other looked away when they jumped while Eliza looked at them and sighed "How did you forget that, How did you both forget that!" She snaps at them, her finger pinching the bridge of her nose. 
> 
> "It just slipped my mind, you know, an easy mistake on our half" Waylon explains to her, avoiding her eyes as he did, Harleen jumped in as well adding "Yeah and we're were in class, it wasn't like we could talk about it freely with someone hearing us" Her smile looking for forced and awkward than before, looking more like a square than an actual smile if Jonathan was telling the truth.

Moving the taser away from his chin, she turns away from him, that wicket smirk on her face as she walks back towards the group announcing "Well then, Let the night begin" the rest of them holding their weapons, ready for whatever it was that they had planned for tonight. Jonathan still strangely was on board with this, that part still scared him.

"Ya already said that but go off I guess," Harleen says, swinging her hammer around, narrowly missing her friends as she swung her hammer with no care in the world, only stopping when Pamela put her hand on her shoulder and smiled at her girlfriend. Most of the weapons in the hands of the other didn't overly count as weapons, not like the taser and hammer that Eliza and Harleen had. Oswald spun a purple umbrella in his hands, the boy with the posters that Jonathan could now see the of face, was flipping a coin over and over again, seemingly engrossed with it as it turned in the air. Selina had gloves with sharp points at the ends of the gloves. Waylon and another equally as strong-looking man had no weapon on the but they were wrapping their hands cotton wraps ~~Jonathan thinks,~~ clearly the two were going in for a fight.

"Wha-What are we doing?" Jonathan asks pulling the crowbar out of his bag, almost dropping it when everyone snapped their heads round to look at him, their eyes slowly drifting back to Waylon and Harleen who avoided their looks in favour of continuing doing what they were doing before Jonathan asked. Harleen started swinging her hammer around again and Waylon continued to wrap his hand in a cotton wrap. 

"Did-Did NONE OF YOU TELL HIM?!?!?" Eliza screeched at the two, the smirk falling off her face, her voice cracking at one point. Everyone jumps at the sudden noise that emanated for Eliza's throat, the noise echoing down the street for a couple of seconds before someone else yelled back _Hey I'm trying to sleep here_ and then the slamming of a window came back to them, as the other looked away when they jumped while Eliza looked at them and sighed "How did you forget that, How did you both forget that!" She snaps at them, her finger pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"It just slipped my mind, you know, an easy mistake on our half" Waylon explains to her, avoiding her eyes as he did, Harleen jumped in as well adding "Yeah and we're were in class, it wasn't like we could talk about it freely with someone hearing us" Her smile looking for forced and awkward than before, looking more like a square than an actual smile if Jonathan was telling the truth.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok that's fine, we're fine. We can just explain on the way" She whispers to herself, dropping her hand and lifting her head back up to face the others, that smirk back on her face after being gone for that time, it was creepy in a way, the way that she can so easily put that face back on, how easy and simple she made it look, no one but Jonathan thought of this, the rest of them had seen this before, it didn't stick in their minds anymore. They've done it themselves as well, that they couldn't deny, Jonathan one the other hand found it fascinating. 

The way that she could do that so easily, so fluidity, it was interesting. Jonathan didn't have time to think about it that as the rest of them started to move towards one of the alleyways next to them, weapons in hand, swinging away with them as they walked. They were going somewhere Jonathan was that sure of that but where they were going was a different story, next to him was Harleen and Pamela making sure that he didn't get lost in the confusing street of Gotham "So I forgot ta tell ya what we were doing, oppsie water under the bridge, no feelings hurt" She started to him. 

"Harley honey you're rambling" Pamela intervenes, putting a hand on Harleen's shoulder as well as giving her a small smile, "Ok so as I'm sure that ya picked up on, is that we aren't the most _moral_ people out there" Harleen begins to explain, putting the word moral in air quotes "Not that anyone is, it's Gotham after all but we're on our way to deal with some people that have been poking around in places that they shouldn't, now we usually don't care if they do this, but now their messin with Ossies Mum and she's an angle that is too pure for this world, so that's why we're gettin involved, ya know?"

"No? But I'm already here and why not" Jonathan shrugs his shoulders at Harleen's words, tightening the grip on the crowbar in his hand, he actually felt a bit of excitement in this, for a second he thought that he was dying, the feeling so foreign to him, this was one of the first and only times that he felt excitement and it was because they were going to go do god knows what's to a group of people that he doesn't know. Guess Gotham does bring out the strangest things in people, the only thing that felt off was the crowbar in his hands, this wasn't the weapon didn't feel right in his hands. 

"That's the spirit, you're going to do great here" Harleen slaps him on the back, pushing him forwards a couple of steps before catching himself. Harleen still skipping along behind him, Pamela watching this all godown, "Didn't doubt you for a second Jonny boy" she adds on, hopping from foot to foot as she spoke, hammering jumping along with her "Just swing that crowbar at any of them that come at cha and you'll survive just fine here" She assures him in her own Harley little way. 

"I still don't fully see why we all have to do this but Oswald's Mother is the nicest adult that we know, so I don't mind too much" Pamela adds on, looking down at perfume bottle in hand, carrying it carefully and with care "I can't wait you use you" She whispers to the bottle like it was her child. Jonathan wasn't sure what Pamela was going to do with the bottle it looked like any old perfume bottle, the kind that you'd find in a store or on your grandmother's desk, would she smash it over their heads, no then she would have brought more than one, is she going to blind them with it? Maybe, sees most likely. What else could she be planning to do with the bottle? 

"Are we meeting his mother or just beating up a bunch of people and then leaving?" Jonathan asks them, he never told Olivia what time he'd be coming back at because he wasn't told himself and he wasn't that close with Olivia in the first place but he didn't want to scare her if he didn't come home before min-night, unlike him, Olivia was Gotham raised, she's seen first hand some of the things that Gotham has to offer to those who in habitat the city. 

"Depends on whether or not the police show up" Someone interjects from in front of them "why you got somewhere to be?" The person turns around, said person being the one with the coin from before, still flipping the coin as he walks. It was impressive, to say the least, but Jonathan wasn't focusing on at the moment, he was too busy questioning when he was asked. 

"No, just simply asking" He grits through his teeth, he wasn't sure why but he did not like this guy, he had no reason too, there was just something about this nameless figure that annoyed him for some reason, was it the smile on his face or his tone of voice that he used. Jonathan wasn't sure, he felt the need to punch him and to have the guy like him at the same time, it was the type of thing that he'd seen with the one kid in his old school that was good at sports, he hated the guy but he also kinda wanted him at the same time, maybe if he was then things would have turned out differently. 

"Good, just making sure, don't want to worry anyone, now do we" He turns back around and starts talking to someone else after that, still flipping that damn coin in his hand. The girls laughed at what he said but it wasn't real, one of those fake ones that you hear so often and Jonathan couldn't find anything funny in what he said. It wasn't meant to be a joke, Jonathan was sure that he as just being a smartass and nothing else. 

"Don't be a dick Harvey, how will you win student council president of you scare off the voters" Pamela points out to him. So that's what the posters from earlier were for, he'd seen some of them on the walls in the hall, he didn't pay that much attention to them but that was mainly because the thing on the posters in his last school wasn't the nicest or friendliest things out there. 

"Don't worry Pamela, I have my ways to get the votes. I think that you forget that I'm well-loved by not only the students but the staff as well" Havey boasts. 

"Oh can't forget the resident golden boy, stealing students and teachers hearts alike, couldn't do a thing wrong even if all the evidence was pointing right at him, running for President because he wants to make the school a better place and not because Roman Sionis, President of the most elite school in Gotham said that you couldn't. Noo not at all" Selina chimes in from somewhere in front of them. The coin that was previously flying through the air now at a standstill in Harvey's hand as he tried to look for Selina before he spoke up again, this time accompanied by the sound of scratching. 

"Don't be catty Selina, we all know what I'm doing this" Harvey calls out, his voice echoing off the walls of the street in front of them, some other people on the street looked at the group before going back to the business that they were doing before. This wasn't the strangest thing that these people had seen on the streets of Gotham, Jonathan was sure of that, which made them look at them all the more stranger. 

"Try being more creative Harv, you'll never be President if you can't be more creative than that, how will you lead the people?" Selina teases, popping out of the shadows of the breaks-in between lamp posts, but that wasn't all in her hands was the source of the scraping, a nail file, she was sharpening her nails, no she, looking closer Jonathan could see that it wasn't her nail that she was sharpening but it was actually metal claws stuck onto the nails of the gloves that she was sharpening. 

"God, you two make it sound like it's an actual presidential election. You have the backing of your buddies Bruce, you'll do fine" Oswald cuts in, his accent cutting through them all, he was somewhere in the front leading them somewhere. 

"Technically to us, it is if ya think about it!" Harleen calls out, throwing her hammer into the air and catching it once again, before placing it at her side and continues once more "Harvey need this so he can feel small bits of control in his life because his parents won't let him be anything but the best and have no tolerance for negative emotions" picking up her hammer once more she flashes a smile to them all, snickering at the reaction that she got. 

"Harley?! What was that?!" Harvey gasps in question. They'd stopped walking after Harleen's after little fact drop or maybe it wasn't, this could be common knowledge that everyone was aware of and Harleen just did this often but assuming from Harvey's reaction, Jonathan's going to guess that this wasn't common knowledge and Harleen probably shouldn't know either but somehow found out. 

"What it's true, it's the same for everyone here Harvey can't express emotion, Eliza needs control and attention all the time, ma darling hates people except for me of course, Waylon uses intimidation because he's afraid of what people will say to him, Bane does the same but also because of the fear of abandonment, Selina steals for the rush of the heist, I'm full of energy and don't abide by the rules because my parents didn't bother to raise them with me and Jervis who isn't here like to pretend that we are in another reality because he doesn't want to accept that the world is a horrible place" Harleen goes on, pointing at each person as she spoke. 

"So Jonathan's the only one with a semi-decent childhood?" Waylon asks, crossing his arms over his chest, looking at Jonathan with the corner of his eye. Jonathan just looked between them all, sorting all of the information into his head for a later date. Laughing to himself, he rubs the bridge of his nose before looking back up again. 

"I had the furthest thing from a _Normal Childhood,_ I would pay anything to have a normal one" He whispers to himself but he was sure that the others had heard him, he wasn't trying to be discreet "That Childhood got me here and well that's the end of that nightmare and start of this one" He adds on, the rest of the group looking at him now. Waylon looked over at Eliza and asked. 

"So he's fucked up just like the rest, is this why you chose him?" Looking at her, waiting for an answer to confirm it all. The way they looked at Eliza for an answer that Jonathan could have answered himself, that pushed him over, Jonathan hated people, he made no secret of that, he considered these people because well he wasn't fully sure why yet but he'll figure it out but the way that they talk about him like he's not here, it sent him over the edge.

He didn't say anything, he's not sure why he didn't say anything, was it the fact that Waylon looked like someone from Georgia, most likely. 

"I don't know the full story but from what I know from his file, yeah he is" Eliza crosses her over her chest and shrugged, nodding her head in Jonathan's direction "And we all know how I love the details, so I'd take my word for it" She adds, that condescending smirk plastered onto her face, god Jonathan just wanted to smack it right off her pretty little face.

"How could we not Ed's you remind us of it all the time, classic Ed's" Harleen shakes her head as she talks, arms crossed, "Eddie do we have to talk about your narcissism again?" She asks, tilting her head to the side, blinking her eyes innocently at her as she asks. Eliza didn't react to Harleen's question the way that Jonathan expected her to, she just stuck her tonguing out at her. 

Like the child that she is. 

"Are you guys done yet?" Oswald interrupts "Because we got people to meet and have ' _friendly_ ' conversation with" He shakes his umbrella at them, gaining all of their attentions, why he hand and umbrella Jonathan wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer to that, curiosity did kill the cat and he doesn't think this answer will bring this cat back from the grave. 

Pamela cups her hand around her mouth and calls out "We're coming, we're coming, don't waddle so fast" earing a powerful laugh from Harleen, their arms still wrapped around each other, they moved past the rest of the group, no longer concerned with the rest of them. 

Things progressed normally from there, they yelled, insulted each other, put on their masks so they don't get recognized. Harleen treated to attack one of them ~~Jonathan doesn't know or care who,~~ Eliza talked about something, things kinda mashed into one another as they walked. Jonathan wasn't sure how but at some point they made it to their destination, being more detailed, they were waiting as the waited Jonathan couldn't help but go back to what Eliza had said earlier.

_"I don't know the full story but from what I know from his file."_

_Why had she read my file? How'd she even get her hands on my file? What's even in my own file and why does it concern any of them?_ These were the questions that swirled around his head, _How much the others know?_ Was another question that came to mind when he thought about this harder, _just how much do they know and how do they not? What did they want from him and why him?_

Even more, questions filled his head the more and more he thought about it. 

No one was in the street that they were waiting by but soon enough there would be, Jonathan had a feeling that was what they were counting on, the element of surprise. Whatever it was that these guys had done, it must have been something big to be worth something like this or maybe they'd done something small and their being about what they did. 

"Ozzie, how long are we gonna be here for?" Harleen wines from behind Jonathan and from the small thumps on the ground, Jonathan could only guess that she was jumping as she talked, stopping when she was done talking, looking down at his watch Oswald answers her with a generic _10 or so_ minutes before going back to looking out for the people that they were waiting for, the alley that they were waiting in turning quite once more besides from the occasional sound of water falling from the roof hitting the already damp ground of the alley. 

10 minutes later just as Oswald said, they heard a noise come from the empty streets of Gotham, the sound of a voice, multiple voices coming from around the corner to them, laughter and chatter was coming from them, filling the previous voiceless street and alleyway. Immediately Jonathan tensed, he'd been expecting them but hearing their voices made it all so real and yet..... 

....He felt nothing for them... 

He tightened his grip on the crowbar in his hand and waited for the signal to go. Oswald moved his hand into the air signalling them to get ready or move into position, not that it mattered if they moved or not, with he so little space that they had in the alleyway. Waiting for Oswald signal them to move once again, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. 

That moment came when they stepped right in front of the alleyway, them coming into view Oswald clicked his fingers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing Oswaled's Mum off of her Gotham self, not sure how she acts in the comics so yeahhh...


	6. Is this what having friends is like, a lot more crime than I thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Harls you're doing that thing again, your words are fusing into one" Selian cuts in, ducking under Harleen's flying hands, when Harleen spun around to face Selina. 
> 
> "Huh, oppsie daisies!" Harleen exclaims, swing back around to face Jonathan. Selina ducking once more to avoid her hands "My bad, habit of mine, long story short, how ya feel?!" She asks, jumping forwards, arms flying everywhere, forcing Jonathan to take a step back to avoid getting his glasses knocked off his face, he thought about it for a moment, How do I feel? He wonders, he's been asked that before but this time it truly stuck within him, how did he feel, normally nothing but now there was something else, the surprise on their faces when they saw them, the fear in their eyes as they watched their friends get taken down. 

As soon as Oswald clicked his fingers, they were off, shotting from their places in the alley out onto the street. Oswald swung first, his umbrella colliding with the knee with one of the guys, bring him to the ground gripping at his knee in pain. Next to go down was an unknown guy next to the one that Oswald took down, before getting time to react to his friend the guy was set to the ground by a fist to the stomach, the wind exiting his lungs like an aeroplane who's the door just opened mid-air. 

As he fell to the ground his stomach was assaulted once more with a kick from a steel toe boot, the owner of the boot quickly making work of another man, the shouts in pain swiftly being shut up with another hit, the first one to go down was knocked out easily with Eliza's taser, looking at there friend face down on the ground the reaming three charge at them, screaming as they charge.

Their efforts were futile, they didn't even reach their friend before Harleen cartwheeled in, sweeping their legs from underneath them, making work of one of their legs, crushing the bones of the leg with her mallet and breaking another one's nose in another swing, blood now dripping off the side "Ya got blood on Beatrice" She points out, looking at Beatrice, snapping her eyes at the man that she shattered the nose of, "HOW DARE YA" before leaping forwards cracking the mallet over his head. Knocking him cold.

One of the guys went for Jonathan, assuming that he'd be the easiest to take out, immediately out of nothing but pure adrenaline Jonathan swings the crowbar, the crowbar immediately collided with the guys head, the guy stops running to grab his head, with his eyes no longer on the target he missed the sign that Jonathan had swung again, this time holding with they guys legs sweeping them up from under him. Hitting him once more while he's down, no sympathy insight. 

Harvey took down the last guy or at least Jonathan thinks he did, he was currently occupied with his guy. Looking up from the now unconscious guy Jonathan couldn't tell left from right, adrenaline pumping through his veins, blood roaring in his ears. Any part of him that felt bad was crowned out with the rush that coursed through him, everything around him was a blur, the only thing that he was fully aware of was the crowbar tightly grasped in his hands and the guy on the ground in front of him. 

Someone was yelling near him but the voice wasn't familiar to him, he could vaguely make out the sense of Pamela spreading something in the persons face, Jonathan thinks that it's Pamela, all he can see is a blur of red, it could be Eliza for all he knows, but he's fairly sure that it's Pamela, going off the perfume bottle in the red blurs hand. With the last one down there were no more reasons for them to stay, backing away from the unconscious bodies that they littered the street with as if they had a mind of there own Jonathan's legs carried him down the street with the rest of them. 

They'd only ran three streets over but Jonathan's legs felt like jelly, the adrenalin wearing off and everything from before caught up to him, hitting him like a train to the gut. The pain in his arms and legs, how winded he felt and the realisation of what he just did. 

That hit him like a tone of bricks. 

He just assaulted 5 guys for no reason, his brain decided that now it would come up with the concept that they might have been lying to him, that if they hadn't done anything, he knows that they explained that they'd been hanging around the place where Oswald's mother lived but had they actually done anything wrong besides that. Humans were horrible Jonathan knew that first hand, people were cruel, terrible and horrific but did that justifies his actions? Did his actions need justification? Did anyone else actions need justification? Where any of the others thinking about this as well or was it just him? 

Lifting his eyes off the ground Jonathan found that none of them seemed to be thinking over what they had just done or maybe they were like Jonathan and were extremely good at pretending not to do something. 

Harleen turned just as Jonathan looked up, catching his eye, in an instant, she jumped around to meet him, with nowhere to hind Jonathan decides to meet Harleen's eye, bright cheerful blue meet cold icy blue"How ya feelin Jonny boy?" She asks, rocking back and forth on her heels, no care or regret to the knees that she destroys minutes earlier. 

"Do ya feel the rush of excitement coursing through ya veins, ta feelin of ta rush of the moment, ya never wanted it to end" Harleen goes on all of her words forming into one long word as she speeds up her pace, her movements getting more and more animated as she goes on, no longer rocking back and forth on her heels now jumping side to side, arms flinging each time she added a new point, almost poking Jonathan's eye out on more than one occasion. 

"Harls you're doing that thing again, your words are fusing into one" Selian cuts in, ducking under Harleen's flying hands, when Harleen spun around to face Selina. 

"Huh, oppsie daisies!" Harleen exclaims, swing back around to face Jonathan. Selina ducking once more to avoid her hands "My bad, habit of mine, long story short, how ya feel?!" She asks, jumping forwards, arms flying everywhere, forcing Jonathan to take a step back to avoid getting his glasses knocked off his face, he thought about it for a moment, _How do I feel?_ He wonders, he's been asked that before but this time it truly stuck within him, how did he feel, normally nothing but now there was something else, the surprise on their faces when they saw them, the fear in their eyes as they watched their friends get taken down. 

Those images played in his head over and over again, he wishes that he could have seen the look on his attacker? Victim? either way, he wanted to see the look in his eyes when he swung the crowbar into his legs, oh how badly he wanted to see his face, the fear and the pain both mixing together delightfully in their face and eye. Look at Harleen he answers "I'm feelin' fine Harleen, thanks"

She pouted at his answer, it wasn't what she was expecting to hear "Just FINE, not ecstatic, out of this world, can't nearly contain all of the joy or overrun with guilt, your stomach is curling in on itself, you want to be sick because of what you've done!!!" Harleen throws these words at him, waiting for him to use one of the many words that she suggested, her eyes almost popping out of her skull, almost strangling him in the processes, the only thing preventing her was the sound of laughter. 

"Taken from what we've seen of him, I'd take this as being the most expressive that he's ever been in his life besides that one time, in the basement yesterday" Nygma's voice cuts in from behind Harleen, taser flying high in the sky behind Harleen, leaning to the side Jonathan could see her catching her hand before throwing up in the air once again, "That truly was something--AHH OH FUCK" She screams when she misses the taser, it electrifying the ground on impact. 

"I ALMOST DIED, DID YOU SEE THAT" She shouts, pulling her jacket closer to her as she walks the chicken walk away from the taser that now lay on the side of the footpath. 

"Eliza you're fine, it didn't even touch you, it's a foot away from you!" Harvey snaps at Eliza, "Jesus" He whispers crossing his arms over his chest, pocketing him coin inside his blazer, scoffing at her actions, nudging the taser with his foot closer to Eliza, snickering as Eliza screeched at the taser on the floor, jumping backwards. 

"Will you stop with that, I'm going deaf from all your screaming, can it" Pamela cuts in, using her hand to signal to Eliza to shut her mouth...Nygma didn't take the warning instead opting to dramatically gasp and go on about how her voice is a gift to the world, how without it the world is a dark and sad place, she is a gift to this miserable world and should be treated as such, this resulted in what Jonathan can only decide as to the look of a disappointed adult figure and a whisper from Harleen explaining that she does this a lot. 

Jonathan didn't care about any of this, he was tried, cold and wanted to leave, pulling the mask off his head, his hair sticking to his forehead in a cold sweat, the Gotham air freezing his semi-warm face "I am allowed to leave or are ya gonna freeze me to?" He asks, accent slipping through as he talked, no longer putting in the effort to hide it, he was too tired and sore to try. 

"Pfff HA, no but are you sure that you want to leave so soon?" Eliza asks, somehow ending up in front of him, centimetres away from his face, eyebrows raised at him, green eyes shining into his, forcing him to only focus on them, this wasn't something new, no Jonathan could tell, this was an old trick used on many, how many feel for it, that was the mystery. 

Looking her in the eyes Jonathan, opened his mouth and said "Yes, I'm' sure" then he walked away, not waiting for her response which he did get in the form of stutters and snickers, that almost put a smile on his face but in the end, it stayed the same sonic face that he always wore.

Oliva wasn't in the apartment when he got back, he wasn't sure if he should be thankful or not, one part of him didn't want the questions that would follow, too tired to deal with them but another part of him wanted to say something to someone, it could be anything the weather, school, did he make any friends, hell he'll even talk about paper if it comes down to it, he just wants to say something, listen to someone. His mind isn't the best place right now. 

Lying in his bed and staring up at his roof, the images of fear filling his mind, the memory playing over and over again, no matter how hard he tries, he couldn't get the image out of his head, after 10 minutes of pretending he let himself marvel in the experience, for the first time since he's got to Gotham that he's seen such fear, he can't remember the last time he's seen that look, that's a lie, he could, that memory also engraved into his mind for the ages to look at, he always wondered why no one found fear as beautiful as he did, why did no one else appreciate fear? 

He knew why people could never look beyond their own needs and fears, none of them worthy enough to fight their innermost demons, it was almost sad if Jonathan was being honest with someone else but he's not so he feels nothing for them but pity. Those who have fear are ruled by it. 

That was something that Jonathan learned within his 16 years. 

Throwing hi sheet off him, Jonatan gets up and grabs a journal out of his nightstand, placing it down onto his desk, he began to write down everything that he felt in the last hour, from nerves to the excitement everything was soon marked down onto the pages confined to the leather binding of the book, it had taken some time but three pages later he was done his second entry done since he's got to Gotham. 

Everything after moving into the apartment has been a bore, he'd spent a week in Gotham before going to school, so that's he'd have time to settle in before being pushed into schoolwork, the week to say the least was uneventful, no fights, nothing he didn't do anything within the week, just read his books and occasionally ate when he remembered or when Oliva made him ~~Which wasn't often~~ , she wasn't a bad foster mother, Jonathan just didn't let on that he wasn't eating while she was away at work, he didn't want to cause her any more problems, her taking him in was enough already. 

_02:45_ Read the clock on his wall, suppressing a yawn Jonathan got up once more, putting the journal back into the nightstand but not back into bed, instead opting to pick up the book he was reading earlier that day, picking up from where he left off, he reckoned that he'd be done by the night's end if he started now. Sleep wasn't going to come tonight, never does, not for him. 

It was well into the morning before Jonathan was done the book, closing it shut he placed it back onto the shelf, undecided on whether or not he should pick up another one or try to see if sleep will be granted to him, however before any decision was made his bedroom door was opened "Jonathan it's--Oh your already awake" Oliva's head pokes around his door, eyes widening in surprises at seeing him awake "It's 7:30, get ready for school" Olivia's head leaving the room. 

Moving with no real effort Jonathan gets ready for the day, pulling on the same shirt and trousers from the day before, grabbing his bag from under his bed and walking out the door. Oliva was in the kitchen pouring something into a bowl, her back towards him -already dressed in her uniform- turning around when the floorboards creaked beneath his weight, a bright smile on her face at his arrival "Do you want breakfast?" She asks box of cornflakes in her hands. 

Shaking his head Jonathan walked towards the door, his hand raised to wave goodbye to her, grabbing a hoodie before walking out the door and into the quiet hallway. The way to school was the same as the day before, he didn't say anything as he walked towards the school, already dreading what was to come, as he walked a news article caught his eye. 

_Jumped on 8th street?_

It was in the bottom corner, not the most important thing on the page but Jonathan immediately knew what it was talking about, picking up the paper and flicking to the right page, the article was brief, not going into much detail besides suspected weapons used and some quotes from the people who were people who attacked, and also anyone that they could suspect who was responsible, no one of the guys had seen their faces so that was a highlight at least, Jonathan could vaguely recall Pamela spraying something on them before running, he wonders what it was. 

Putting the newspaper back to where he grabbed it from he walked away, back on his not so merry way to school, slightly satisfied with the report that he's read. The school was just as crowded as the day before, weaving his way through the crows his pushes open the side door, keeping out of anyone line of sight, especially Harleen's, he wasn't awake enough to deal with her just yet, nothing against her, she seems like a nice person from their limited interactions but he was too tired to deal with anyone at the moment. 

When he walked past the cleaners storage room, a hand shot out pulling him into the small dark space, the door shaming shut once inside. Jonathan didn't panic ~~He'd been in this situation before~~ he tensed, preparing himself for a punch that was bound to happen, instead he found himself in something much different, tensing for a punch he found something else being shoved in his face, a familiar voice filling the quiet void around them "Did you read it! Did you read it! Did you read it! Did you read it!"

Slapping the paper away from his face, he shouts "Fuckin' stop that will ya!" slamming his hand against the wall trying to hit the light switch, swinging his arm up the rights flickered on revealing the green eyes of Nygma coming up from behind the newspaper, something in them that Jonathan didn't understand, shock? fear? Jonathan wasn't sure but he wanted to see it again after a second she seemed to have snapped out of what she was doing and started shoving it in his face once again, the paper moving as she jumped up and down, shoving the paper down and almost ripping seemed to be the thing to stop her. 

"Did you read it?" She asks once again, folding the page in half and handing it over for him to read, not bothering to read it again he threw the paper over Nygma's shoulder and somewhere onto the floor, Nygma smile falling from its grace as she watched the paper fall to the ground, "Hey!" She calls, leaning down to pick up the paper "I paid for this" She tells him, smacking him on the head with said paper, now being able to see her fully he could tell that she was wearing something different, purple and green hoodie with blue jeans, more normal than the day before. 

"Did ya steal one before this?" He asks, intentionally avoiding her question, testing the waters on how much he could push this, Nygma seemed to have this all planned out and Jonathan took delight in turning it on its head. 

"Yes, multiple times, never been caught either," She says her tone changing immediately, it took a few seconds but Nygma finally caught onto him "That's not the point we can all about how brilliant I am later, ow answer my questions. Did you read it?" She asks the last bit through her teeth, eyes shotting daggers at him. 

"On the way here, is that all ya needed me for?" He asks, indicating to the door, a slither of hope coming through the small cracks in the door, only for them to be locked away with one simple smile from Nygma, a giggle accompanying the smile, mocking him, taunting him, making fun of him for earlier. An enigma may be a mystery but it never forgets. 

"Nope" She pops the 'P' "One more question for you if you'd be so kind to answer" She worded like a question but the two of them knew that it was a demand, leaning forwards, invading Jonathan's personal space more than she had beforehand in the already stuffy storage room, "Do you feel a need to tell anyone about what happened and what we did last night?" She asks, moving her hand to poke his nose, her voice becoming dangerously low. 

Gripping her wrist, he answers her "No, I don't, don't have no need, your safe" He lets go of her wrist, throwing it back at her, sneering as he does.

"Like music to my ears, good to know that you won't tell on us" She starts, rubbing her fingers slightly over her newly freed wrist "Be extremely embarrassing for me if you did. You know considering.." She laughs quietly to herself "...That I'm the one that recommended you" She finishes, moving past him and out the storage room, acting as if nothing happened, not part of her face or body langue gave away any indications of what had just happened but it wasn't like there was anyone there to see, the hallways where empty, however, they won't be that way for long. 

Once Nygma was out of view Jonathan left the storage room, walking directionless around the school, if he wasn't in the mood to talk before then he most definitely wasn't now. Eliza didn't scare him, she couldn't scare a pug even if she tried, no, it was that she was aware of him before he even stepped foot on the school grounds, it was annoying and he was sick of this, want did they want from him? What did they see in him? He isn't from anywhere interesting, he isn't interesting....What did they want? 

The ringing of the bell pulling him from his thoughts, forcing him to move towards him form class, where Harleen and Waylon waited. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very good at writing fighting scenes so sorry with what you're stuck with.
> 
> Did I change Jonathan accent halfway thought, yes, is it working? I have no clue. 
> 
> I'm also writing some other scribbler books so look out for thoughts, I might post them when I get to 10 chapters on this book, soo yeah would you guys be interested in that? 
> 
> I've got Home Miserable Home, where Jonathan and Eliza have tp go back to Georgia because it's not safe for them to stay there, while there Jonathan had to make sure that no one knows about the murder that he committed year prior. 
> 
> More than meets the eye where Eliza is a hunter and had been hired to take down a cryptid in Gotham, couple of problems she's not the only one and she's petty sure that the cryptid's part human. 
> 
> Be My Plus One? They go to a wedding as a fake couple and they share a bed.


	7. It's cold and the seats are strangely wet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan was a patient man but it seems that when it came to Eliza that his patience was non-existence, one look of that smile and Jonathan wanted to strangle her before any words left her mouth, that same smile on her as she opened her mouth "Nothing just wanted to see how you were?" She acted like she hadn't just spent 15 minutes poking him for attention. 
> 
> "I'm cold and the seats are strangely wet," He tells her, unamused with this, shifting slightly in his seat as he spoke however that only made the feeling of moistness much worse than before. 

Things went by slowly and quietly for Jonathan, Harleen still talked to him every chance that she got-Almost giving them detention and losing him an eye- and Waylon was the same as the day before, his conversation with Eliza still lingering in his mind, honestly, it could have gone a lot worse if Jonathan was being truthful, first people that he wanted to talk to him turn out to be shady and have committed a crime. 

Not the worse that he could do, they were his age and haven't punched him yet, Standards were low but reasonable. 

Harleen still dragged him around the school but up until _01:20_ nothing happened, still gripping his wrist Harleen pulled out her phone, pouting at the message that she's got, shoving her phone into her pocket she turned her head to look at him "Ed's not coming to lunch today, somethings come up, just ta heads up" She informs him, avoiding people without looking at them, she had eyes on the back of her head, hidden somewhere beneath those blond ponytails. 

Jonathan could lie to you and say that he didn't care but he did, what was so important that she could come, she seemed so interested in what was going to happen next this morning, what changed with the day? "Did she say what's holdin' her up?" He asks, tightening his grip on his bag as another person knocked into him if it weren't for Harleen's grip on his wrist he would have been lost in the sea of kids a long time ago, looking over the sea of heads ~~One of the few advantages of height~~ he could vaguely make out the pumpkin read hair of Eliza walking across the crowd. 

"No, just said that she couldn't make it to lunch today, why ya interested anyway?" She asks, turning around again to face him, forcing the everyone in her way to move or get trampled. She was wiggling her eyebrows at him, the longer he took to the wider her smile got.

"I'm not, she just doesn't seem like the kind of person to miss these things for just anythin' like homework, something like that" He waves off, he asked out of nothing but curiosity, he didn't care what it was that was keeping her, he was only curious, nothing more, nothing less. Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back, scanning the crowds and hallways one more time before looking back at Harleen, she wasn't looking at him instead of looking at something in front of them, letting go of Jonathan's wrist Harleen ran forward in the crowd eager to talk to someone. 

Cutting through the crowd Jonathan could now see that the person was Pamela, obviously, the two women talking and pointing at something when Jonathan strolls over, pointing in the same direction that Eliza had gone in, the two looked over at him and then back at the hallway that Eliza went down, he raised an eyebrow at the two but didn't voice anything to them, he didn't know what to voice, they knew about as much as he did with all of this. 

Jumping around to face him once he's near them, Harleen begins to talk "What ya doin' after school?" smile wide and eyes expecting something, Jonathan suspects that he'll be finding out soon what she wants "Because we need ya for something" She finished, rocking back and forth on her heels. 

Jonathan didn't answer, he simply raised an eyebrow at the two, and nodded his head, confirming something to the two ladies standing in front of him. Pamela spoke up as she put her hands in Harleens shoulders, effectively stopping her "Just meet us in the main hall after school" she's not looking at him, instead, she's looking Harleen in the eyes with affection, Harleen staring back with the same amount of affection, Jonathan wasn't sure if he should be looking at this, he felt like he was intruding on something, looking behind him, Harleen speaks up again. 

"Ya still coming to lunch with us right?"

Once again Jonathan didn't vocalise his answer, instead, he slowly turned back and nodded his head in agreement, he didn't have anything else going on, he never did. Harleen clapped her hands in excitement at his answer, turning around once more, the three were off towards the back of the school, just like the day before the hallway was empty, the only thing moving is the swaying of the grass in the wind, an empty wrapper tumbling by them. Things were the almost same as the day before, almost...things seemed a bit quieter than before, the volume that is Eliza Nygma was missing and it showed, there was a power vacuum that nothing seemed to fill, he'd known her for less than a day and he can already hear her voice in his head, filling in the gaps in conversations. He should see a doctor about that or maybe he should ask Olivia, she's a nurse, she'd know what was up. 

They didn't go anywhere today, they simply stayed down there and ate, this time no plan came up, no newspaper clipping, no alternative motives behind there smile- Or at least at the moment there are no alternative motives, they could come around later-it was peaceful until Drury and Garfield kicked down the door, yelling about something that involved androids, them coming to life and human??? Jonathan wasn't too sure, he stopped listening as soon as the entered the basement. 

class was also relatively normal, he listened and took notes, didn't answer anything but that was a personal choice more than anything else, he continued to be dragged between classes, he has grown numb to the new routine that he's found himself in, amidst the thoughts of school and work, two thoughts pulled through the swirling thoughts, what's happening after school? What did Nygma have to do? 

The growing pain in his shoulder caused him to look at the culprit that sat beside him "What!" He hissed at them, only a little bit of venom in his voice, he'd been sitting there for 15 minutes, the feeling only now becoming sore on his thin cold arms, the suspect in question having appeared from nowhere, the face of Eliza Nygma inches away from his own, green meets blue as the two stares each other down, both waiting for the other to start talking, a small gust of wind that managed to sneak its way through the thin gaps of the gym door, the small amount of cold Gotham wind caused the two to shiver. 

Jonathan was a patient man but it seems that when it came to Eliza that his patience was non-existence, one look of that smile and Jonathan wanted to strangle her before any words left her mouth, that same smile on her as she opened her mouth "Nothing just wanted to see how you were?" She acted like she hadn't just spent 15 minutes poking him for attention. 

"I'm cold and the seats are strangely wet," He tells her, unamused with this, shifting slightly in his seat as he spoke however that only made the feeling of moistness much worse than before. 

"We-Wet?!" She exclaims in disbelief, backing away slightly from him, her movement revealed that it was only where Jonathan sat that was wet "How'd you manage that?" She asks, voice not ringing out in the hall, the noise drowned out by the sound of the gymnastics team practised in the rest of the hall before the bleachers that the rest of them are scattered across as they wait for Harleen to finish up practice. Pulling a water bottle up from where he moved it from Jonathan says.

"Is was sittin' here before I got here"

Taking the bottle and rolling it somewhere behind them, Eliza continues "That's the problem, move over here. Why'd you even sit there if, something else was there?" Patting the spot that she'd previously sat in, the difference on his butt was immediate, something that he's never thought he'd think to himself. He simply answered her with a ' _Why not'_ and carried from that, the time that the two talked another person had joined them, sitting on a bench behind them, the person was tall and dressed in a light blue coat, that much was evident from the corner of Jonathan's eye. 

"Dormouse! This is the boy you've talked so dearly about?" He asks, hands clapping together under his chin, the two looked up at the new voice that entered the scene, Eliza jumping slightly at the sudden appearance, pupils smalling before returning to normal when she faced the man that now sat behind them, her face told a story that Jonathan couldn't seem to read, he wasn't sure what deserved this reaction, what the man had said was fairly normal for them, within the two days that he'd known them he'd already heard multiple times that Eliza's talked about him before. 

The only difference now being the word **_Dearly_** , that was something new and a word that he's never thought he'd be associated with ever in his life, whispered and spoked about but the word **_Dearly_ **never entered the sentence, irritable and bastard but this, this was a new one and strangely enough. 

He liked it. 

He liked the idea that someone spoke of him without ill intent -even if they were talking about him behind his back- _God, am I that desperate_ He thinks to himself, looking behind his, he meets the eyes of the man that spoke, "I see it now, you have the face of a March Hare? I see why you spoke of him so much" He says, slowly turning his head to look at Eliza, not blinking once throughout the entire encounter, however, there was something else in his eyes as well, just like everyone else's when they look at him. 

"Already like him, Jervis? I should have known" Eliza chuckles at the two, leaning one arm on the bench that Jervis sat on, Jonathan didn't move from his spot on the bench instead opting to turn his legs around to look at Jervis, it was manners to face him and he was raised on manners, he had too. 

"Of course I do, the same way that you did when you found out about him" Jervis goes on, not noticing or caring about the look that Eliza sent his way, lips pursed in a thin line, eyes wide, the face of someone who wants him to keep quiet, this conversation was opening up many doors to Jonathan, interested and like were two very different things in Jonathan's world, interested meant that they could get something from you. Like meant something that Jonathan didn't know, he froze at the words and the meaning that came behind them.

_He means as in friends right, has to be--what would someone like about me?!_ He thinks to himself, other variations of that also going through his head, he could feel he head snap between the two, looking at Eliza then Jervis, back to Eliza, then Jervis, then Eliza, once more to Jervis and then stopping on Eliza. He was sure that his eyes were wide but no one commented on it or noticed it, not wanting to stay on this topic any longer than he had too, without thinking much about it, he blurts out "Why are we here?" The two looks at him with black faces for a moment before one of them answers him. 

"It's a...um.." Eliza trails off, playing with her hands before picking up again "Sensitive topic, it's not something that we should talk about here" She explains, her eyes falling to her hands as she talks, Jervis not making eye contact with either of them and for the first time that Jonathan had seen he blinked. The three stayed like that for some time, they moved back to their original setting and watched Harleen as she did cartwheels and backflips across the hall. The only sound being of the as feet hit the floor and the cycle repeated. 

Out of the blue and with no watering, Jervis piped up "Oh I know you can explain at your house Dormouse!" He exclaims, not loud enough for the anyone but them three to hear, Jonathan looked back at him but his eyes landed on Eliza again, the blackness on her face was gone, her eyes were wide but not with excitement or happiness but fear? She sat still with her hands folded neatly under her chine, without looking at her face you would believe that she was perfectly ok but Jonathan saw that, that wasn't true, Jervis couldn't see her face and he was smiling away with no clue of the effect of his question had on Eliza. 

"No.." She says quietly, not adding anything else. 

"Ok, well we can't go to mine for reasons and we can't do to your" He points at Eliza, "How about yours?" He turns suddenly and asks, pointing at Jonathan. Trying his best not to jump at Jervis sudden movements towards him, _Would Oliva mind? Do I want them over?_ He thought, does he want them there? To know where he lived but he must admit he was curious as to why they were here. 

"So it's decided then?" It was Jervis voice that made him realise that he hadn't actually said anything about this, didn't voice anything and now finds himself stuck here with these two coming to his house before he had a chance to stop this Eliza speaks up again, voice as dull as before. 

"Yeah, that's great, thank's Jonathan" She gets up from her seat and jumps down towards Selina and Pamela, interrupting whatever conversation that the two were having before she jumped down from above, Jervis didn't stick around after that, leaving out the back door before Jonathan could get a word in, all that was left now was Jonathan in thought, was it too late? He though was it too late for him to move to Central City? Was it too late for him too pack up his things and move to Central City? 

The answer was yes, it was too take, it could take too long to pack up to the bookshelf in under an hour. 

Sitting in silence Jonathan spaced out from the world around him, all of it becoming white noise to his clouded mind, thoughts swirled around his mind, he felt like he was floating in space, nothing was real besides him and his thoughts, the bench underneath him disappearing until he felt a tap on his shoulder, shaking his head, he looked at who dared to touch him. Unsurprisingly it was Eliza, Jervis standing a couple of paces behind her, both with bags in hand, now that Jervis was standing he could see the way that he towered over the two, such small yet tall man. 

"You ready to go?" Eliza asks, recovering from whatever mood she's put herself in before, face plastered with the same smile as always, looking past Eliza, he could see that Jervis was now clutching a book in his hand, the cover obscured by his hand. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, he nodded picking up his bag and standing, he joined the two when they left through the back door. 

The cold Gotham air hitting them all like bullets, that seemed to be one of the things that he's always committing on, the one thing that always stays the same, it was the first thing that he noticed in Gotham, the air so different from what he's used too, it wasn't just how cold, it was everything, the smell, the strength and things that travelled in it- Who knew a bin the size of a person and overflowing could fly as fast as a bird- he's not sure if he'll ever get used to it. Jervis and Eliza seemed to be used to it, even so, how long had they been in Gotham for, born here or moved? 

The school was almost bear, besides a select few that were either forced to stay behind or had something on after school, he felt eyes on the back of his head, turning around he could see the two looking at him expectantly, he raised an eyebrow, silently questioning what they wanted, "Sadly my genius has its limits, much to everyone's dismay" Eliza states, Jonathan rolled his eyes at her little speech and he was sure that she would have gone on but Jervis cut in, effectively cutting her off. 

"WE DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!" He shouts at him, words coming out in a string, ignoring the glares that Eliza sent his way, Jonathan could practically see the murder in her eyes when she looks at him, the poor man unaware of the look sent his way. Looking up at Jervis, Jonathan was almost amazed, he's never seen someone taller than his before, it was frightening in a sense, even if he were only an inch or two taller. 

"Uhhh...Are you sure?" He asks them, he's not fully sure what they are doing or how he feels about this, the two nodding in agreement to this, turning back he starts to walk away from the gym exit and towards the front of the school, immediately after stepping out of the school gate Eliza begins to run her mouth about any topic that comes to mind, topics range from school, to work, to the news from last time, a show that she's watching and books. 

Jervis joined in on the last one and surprising Jonathan found himself talking along with them, Jervis stuck to Alice in Wonderland but himself and Eliza moved on to other kinds of books, they were halfway back to the apartment when the conversation changed once again, although this time it was a much different than all the previous ones "You're accent, you're from Georgia?" Jervis asks and for the first time, Jonathan noticed Jervis accent. 

A taken back by the question Jonathan could only nod, thinking over the question he didn't see Eliza as she walked behind Jervis, wrapping her arms around his neck, forcing him to drag her towards their destination, with whatever strength that she had, she forced herself to lift her shoes off the ground, Jervis somehow holding her weight as she pulls him down and says "Of course, couldn't you hear it from the beginning, just like you did with me" Laughing as she speaks, throughout this Jervis managed to hold her, it was impressive. 

"But Dormouse, you were easy, your voice was madness!" He exclaims to her, turning his head to look at her, stopping halfway when Eliza rested her head on his shoulder, looking forwards Jervis laughs at what comes next. 

"Like you can talk! I immediately knew where you were from!" She squawked at him, not letting go of him instead tightening her grip on him and swinging her arms into the air, Jervis catching them, now successfully carrying her without the fear of her choking him to death, it was so strange to see them act like this, for it to be so natural for them to act like that "At least Jonathan's is understandable"

"What?" Jonathan asks, not following anything that the two were saying, he only understood one thing that came out of the two's mouth "Where are you from then?" He continues, his eyes were going to be permanently glued to his head by the end of the week, he was sure of it. The two looked over at him and blinked, then they blinked again just to stress the point. 

"Cou-could you not tell?" Eliza stutters, within this conversation, the trio had stopped in the middle of the footpath, many people walking past them as they actually had somewhere to be instead of having this conversation, "It's quite obvious March Hare" Jervis adds, Jonathan didn't answer, he shrugged his shoulder at them and that was a substitute for an answer, the two blinked at him again waiting for a proper answer from him.

Sighing at the dismay that he had to speak, he started "I know you're both from somewhere else, your's more noticeable now that I'm' hearin' you" He points to Jervis, then crossing his arms again "Where are ya from then?" He asks them, looking back at them with an equally as intense look that they were giving, the two answer him at the same time, not giving a damn that Jonathan might not be able to understand them.

"Ireland" 

"England"

They said it at the same time but Jonathan understood the answer, throwing his arms in the air in defeat, Jonathan states "Now that ya say it's obvious" Walking backwards a few steps before turning around to make sure that he didn't trip over anything, the two laugh from behind him but this time it didn't feel condescending, it felt inviting, it was a nice feeling, a warm feeling. Pushing that down Jonathan started to walk again, he shouldn't get used to them, he won't be here forever, he can know them, he can know that they exist but he doesn't have to be close friends with them. 

It was easier that way, less people got hurt that way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write Jervis and I'm proud
> 
> I'm sorry Jervis stans


End file.
